FUNdraising Fridays

Have a great weekend!

~Eneida

Opportunities for Students

• Micro-Grants for Young People to Start Social Ventures

Deadline: August 13, 2007

The Youth Service America-Youth Venture Program, a joint partnership between Youth Service America and Youth Venture, Inc. , is now accepting applications from young people across the United States who are interested in starting their own sustainable social ventures.

Examples of possible ventures include a youth center designed to keep youth out of trouble with music and art programs; an anti-peer pressure education campaign; a bike repair shop with a vocational training program; or an assembly program touring inner-city schools that combines music with an anti-drug/violence performances.

Ventures must be youth-led and designed to be a lasting, sustainable asset to the community. YSA Youth Venture teams are required to plan a Global Youth Service Day project every year that their venture is operational.

The YSA Youth Venture Program provides a variety of resources, including a national network of like-minded young people, media opportunities, technical support, helpful toolkits and workshops, as well as grants of up to $1,000 each for start-up expenses.

Visit the Youth Venture Web site for complete program information.

• Do Something Offering Weekly Grants for Young Social Entrepreneurs

Deadline: Rolling

Do Something is a not-for-profit organization that works to inspire, support, and celebrate young social entrepreneurs and community activists. The organization is accepting applications for the following grant programs:

Do Something and GameStop are offering grants of $500 each to young people, age 25 and younger, in the U.S. or Canada who have a great idea for a community-action project and need support to turn their idea into reality. GameStop grants are given out weekly.

Do Something and Plum TV are offering grants of $500 each to social entrepreneurs, age 25 and younger, in the U.S. who have recently created a sustainable project, program, or organization and need funding to further the growth and success of their program. Plum TV grants are given out weekly.

Visit the Do Something Web site for complete program information and application forms.

Opportunities for Teachers

• U.S. Innovative Teachers Forum

Deadline: July 11, 2007

National Staff Development Council (NSDC) and the National Commission on Teaching and America's Future (NCTAF) brings together outstanding K-12 learning teams demonstrating 21st century skills in their teaching and learning. The Forum will provide learning teams the opportunity to share expertise, engage collaboratively with their peers, and grow professionally through a series of learning projects. Learning teams selected to attend the Forum will receive paid airfare, hotel, and other travel expenses. The Forum will take place September 27-28, 2007, on the Microsoft Corporate Campus in Redmond, WA. For more information please visit the Innovative Teachers Forum Web site.

Opportunities for Communities and Schools

• Free Training for Low-Income Fathers

CitiWide is offering free computer training, life skills, employment skills, and job placement/retention to low-income fathers and head of households in the District. Training will be held at the CitiWide Computer Training Center, 3636 16th Street, NW, #BG-49, Washington, DC 20010. For further information and registration please visit the CityWide Web site. Teachers please encourage your students' eligible fathers to apply!

FUNdraising Fridays

Best of luck and have a great weekend!

~Eneida

Opportunities for Students

• Syracuse University’s School of Architecture

Mark Robbins, Dean of Syracuse University's School of Architecture is seeking young men and women of color interested in pursuing a five-year professional degree in Architecture. He’s committed to bringing diversity to his field and has scholarship money set aside to fully cover education costs for 10 students.

Syracuse University's School of Architecture has a great reputation and this seems like a terrific opportunity, so please pass this on to everyone you know. Contact: Mark Robbins, Dean School of Architecture: 315 443- 2255 or visit the School of Architecture Web site.

• CIA Undergraduate Scholarship Program

Award Amount: Up to $18,000
Applications accepted from July 15 to November 1, 2007

The CIA Undergraduate Scholar Program was developed, in part, to assist minority and disabled students, but application is open to all students who meet the requirements. The program offers unmatched experience. You'll complete work sessions during each summer break, increasing your knowledge and job responsibilities while assisting intelligence professionals and applying your academic skills.

• Fondo Futuro Scholarship

Award Amount: $1000
Deadline: Varies

The Fondo Futuro Scholarship is available to Latino high school, undergraduate, graduate, vocational and technical training students. You must have a minimum 3.0 GPA to be eligible for this award.

Please visit the Fondo Futuro Scholarship Web site for additional information and to apply.

Opportunities for Teachers

• National Weather Association Sol Hirsh Fund Grants

Maximum Grant: $500
Deadline: August 1st of every year

Five hundred dollar grants are available annually from the National Weather Association for K-12 teachers who help to improve meteorology education for their students. The selected teachers can use the funds to take an accredited course in atmospheric sciences, attend a relevant workshop or conference, or purchase scientific materials and equipment for the classroom.

Opportunities for Schools

• Youth Garden Grants Program

Deadline: November 1, 2007

The National Gardening Association has announced that Home Depot has returned as sponsor of its Youth Garden Grants program. For more than twenty years, the Youth Garden Grants program has helped youngsters reap rewards and life lessons from working in gardens and outdoor habitats.

NGA awards Youth Garden Grants to schools and community organizations with child-centered, outdoor garden programs. In evaluating grant applications, priority will be given to programs that emphasize one or more of these elements: educational focus and/or curricular ties (if applicant is a formal education program); nutrition or plant-to-food connections; environmental wareness/education; entrepreneurship; and social aspects of gardening such as leadership development, team building, community support, and/or service-learning.

Schools, youth groups, community centers, camps, clubs, treatment facilities, and intergenerational groups throughout the United States are eligible to apply. Applicants must plan to garden in 2007 with at least fifteen children between the ages of 3 and 18.

In 2008, 150 programs will receive gift cards from Home Depot for the purchase of gardening materials and supplies particular to the needs of their program, along with an activity package from NGA. The top fifty programs will receive gift cards valued at $500, and an additional one hundred programs will receive $250 gift cards.

Visit the NGA Web site for complete program details and application procedures.

Inspired Haikus, Reflections on a year of Inspired Mentoring

On May 31, 2007, Inspired Teachers and Mentors came together to celebrate their accomplishments as part of Inspired Teaching’s Mentoring and Teacher Empowerment Program. Toward the end of the evening, teachers and mentors wrote Haiku (or Tri-kus — Inspired Teaching’s version of Haiku which is three Haiku poems strung together to make a 3-stanza poem). Below are some of their creations!

It is an honor for me to work with the teachers and mentors who work so hard to make their classrooms places of inspiration!

—Kate

Inspired Mentoring
Is essential for
Surviving the day alive
‘Midst mismanagement.

Is essential for
Reviving the soul and drive
I can feel again.

Is essential for
Thriving and risking the dive
I can dream again.

—Carol Betts and Pax


Inspired Teaching: Love in Action
Creative Daring
Questions that open teaching
And learning to more

Possibilities
Wow! How invigorating
Investigating

Brainstorming, playing
Enjoying, writing, singing
Chaos into art.

—Kaneia Mayo, Linda Nunes-Schrag, Reb McCoyer


Inspired Mentoring Is…
Good teachers help kids
They help students learn new things
Good teachers like kids.

Good students listen
They help classmates with their work
Think creatively.

Mentors help schools learn
Programs help kids and teachers
Inspired Teaching.

—Zora Williams, Julie Sweetland, Indhika Jayaratnam


Inspired Mentoring
Observe the class, me
Objective direction now
Take risk for learning.

Help children build lives
Listening and watching them
Help them build their world.

Better transitions
Music, motion, activity
Peace, tranquility.

—Tanina Forbes and Judy Holton


Inspired Mentoring
Is a life-saver
Is a great privilege
Makes you a great friend.

Is observation
Any time, daytime or night
Support unending.

Remembering how
Hard it is to teach the kids
And how rewarding.

—Sophie Luxmoore and Margot deFerranti


Inspired Teaching
Here’s what I would like
Teachers not giving worksheets
Instead playing games.

Let kids think alone
Not spoon-feeding directions
Just let them be free.

Kids have great ideas
No kid is unimportant
Hear all kids ideas!

—Isabel Brodsky and Aleta Margolis


Inspired Mentoring
Encouraging joy
Exploration, questioning
Young minds flow and grow.

—Marguerite Delaney and Bill

INSPIRED TEACHER FEATURE

Nine Lives in the Classroom

Judy smiles when she recounts the time she was a new teacher who had never been in a classroom.

"Oh my gosh, I was so terrified. Any minute I thought they're [her students] going to figure out I don't know how to do this. But I figured it out...I got it. You ask questions and value the moment to moment reality and your experience flows seamlessly. I drew on all my previous experience as a writer, director, actor, and student."

Judy’s extensive and varied career was a resource in the classroom. Drawing on diverse experiences enabled Judy to have a ‘big bag of tricks’ when it came to her teaching techniques. She asserts that harnessing past experiences can bring a fresh perspective to teaching and provide inspiration in the classroom.

Judy White continues to transform teaching through her work with Inspired Teaching - she leads seminars and workshops, mentors new teachers, and even traveled to India to bring Inspired Teaching to a local school for artisans. While constantly taking on new projects and roles, Judy maintains a simple philosophy, “I’ve had nine lives. But I’m always a student and teacher.”