Student Power

Student Power Innovator Grants provide funds to teachers to support students in understanding and implementing the democratic process. 

Teachers will learn how to help their students identify and research a local public policy issue of the students' choosing, including alternate solutions and the presentation of such solutions to the appropriate decision-makers. Teachers will receive assistance in outreach and organization of virtual in-class field trips with elected officials and the organization of a field trip to see government in action at local meetings such as Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners or M-DCPS School Board meetings. Additional training and support will be available to help students organize their work to share with others in the community. 

Do you want to introduce students to active citizenship? Apply for a Student Power Innovator Grant to make your dream a reality!

• Quick and easy reporting requirements
• Field Trip Grant funds ($250) available on debit cards
• Teacher Stipend upon completion of grant ($250)
• Recipients recognized at an Awards Reception and in an Awards Publication
• Ongoing workshops, training, and support
• Open to 6th-12th grade public school teachers in Miami-Dade County

Participants will receive training at the November 6th Idea EXPO - The Teacher Conference as well as ongoing training and support during the school year.

Apply now (scroll all the way down) for the 2021-22 school year!

Priority Deadline: Thursday, November 4th, 2021 midnight

Please note: We HIGHLY RECOMMEND that you compose the body of your grant application first in a document such as MS Word, before cutting and pasting it into the online application template. APPLICATION CANNOT BE SAVED while you are in the process of composing online, and applications have been lost in the past during this process and through technical-related interruptions, such as server disconnections.

Please also read through these procedures and considerations before starting your application:

1. Approval is required from your school principal to ensure that appropriate administrative personnel are aware of your submission of the grant application.
2. Project funds must be spent during the current school year.
3. A final expense report will be required and periodic site visits may be conducted.
4. The Education Fund reserves the right to publicize all grant programs.
5. Applicant's name or school name should not appear in the text of the grant. Include name only in the general information section.
6. Funds cannot be allocated toward personal honorariums for the applicant.
7. Proposals will not be funded for expansion and/or maintenance of previous grants.
8. The Education Fund reserves the right to fund programs that it considers appropriate for one school, but not for another.
9. Each teacher may submit only one proposal; however, if a teacher is part of a team for one proposal, the teacher is not prohibited from submitting another proposal as part of a different team or on their own. 

TIPS FOR WRITING A SUCCESSFUL GRANT APPLICATION
From The Education Fund Grant Committee

1. Write your grant separately, not on the application. Edit with other readers. Then enter the grant into the application. Once you begin entering, finish. You cannot go back and make changes.
2. Write in sentences (except budget). Avoid education jargon. Do not include standards.
3. Need: Describe the specific problems the students in this project have. Briefly, describe your project and items you need to purchase. Then show how this project will help these students solve these learning problems, achieve specific goals, and be creative. NOTE: If this is not an in-class project, explain where and how these students will be present and able to participate and how the project is relevant to class work.
4. Project details: Describe overall project. Focus on one major example and go in to detail. Make it sound so interesting the judges will want to do it, too!
5. Student activities: Use lots of “students will do …..” sentences. Show them solving problems and being creative.
6. Timeline: Show how project fits into regular studies, but concentrate on this project.
7. Evaluation: Base evaluation on this project, not the whole year. It can be a test, but can also be a demonstration, performance, composition, experiment, competition, or other creative and authentic evaluation.
8. Budget: List in same order. Make list easy to read. Judges often look at budget first. If items you are requesting need other equipment, mention it is already available. If items can be used in future, say so.

Contact information:
Karen Deleon, Associate Program Manager
The Education Fund
studentpoweradvisor@aprender-a-bailar.com