Frequently Asked Questions

What's funded, what's not?
What's been funded in the past?
What's Not?
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What’s funded, what’s not?

Classroom Innovation Grants fund creative classroom teaching ideas. We know teachers possess the power to engage the minds of their students. Providing simply better tools and resources to teachers turns innovative ideas into excitement and learning for multitudes of students.

What’s been funded in the past? 

• A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words: This elementary school teacher wanted to help students who struggle with language or the ability to express themselves. With a camera for each student and a year-long multiple discipline photography unit, she motivated students through assignments that were personally relevant.
• The Sky is the Limit: The Sky is the Limit gave these elementary students the opportunity to experience required curriculum in a practical, hands on environment. The students designed, planned, and built remote control airplanes while learning the principles of flight and applying mathematical practices. Experts from the community assisted the project, culminating in a fly day.
• Motivating Minds Through Music: One middle school teacher believed with an additional 16 electric guitars that he would not only develop skills in music that apply to core subject areas, but also instill in students a desire to come to school and to engage in meaningful learning experiences.
• Illegal Trash Dumping: A middle school teacher wanted to raise students’ awareness on issues surrounding illegal dumping of trash such as health hazards to people, plants and animals, and to educate students on the different products that are recyclable, and to teach students proper disposal of trash.
• Creative Learning Through Jewelry and Metal Work: A high school art teacher hoped to diversify art course offerings and provide an art-based course as a career path initiative. Through a jewelry and metal making class, she hoped to promote the arts as a means of economic development and to cultivate an economically conducive climate for practicing artists.

What’s not funded?

The following types of requests are not eligible for funding:

• Teacher training or salaries. Requests for teacher certifications, training, or for salaries fall beyond our funding guidelines. This includes stipends for substitute teachers.
• Before- or after-school programs. The intent of Classroom Innovation Grants is to support teachers and their students during core school hours, not for extracurricular activities such as before or after school day care, clubs, or other activities scheduled outside of core school hours.
• Prepackaged curriculum. Classroom Innovation Grants are centered on the principle of ingenuity. Funding requests that are largely comprised of prepackaged curriculum or pre-developed software lack the thread of innovation we promote. For example, a teacher hoping to provide real-life applications for science would be more successful at receiving a grant by creating a collection of commonly used items, instead of purchasing several copies of “ACME’s Science Kits”.
• Equipment requests not associated with a creative teaching idea. We often receive questions about equipment, such as, “Do you fund computers?” The answer is, “it depends.” As you can see from the examples we have provided, Classroom Innovation Grants certainly have provided equipment through guitars, computers, cameras, scales, etc. What all of these winning grants have in common is that the grant was centered on an idea that came alive. In the past we have received requests to replace overhead projectors, Smartboards or other teaching aids that have broken or are needed; these requests were denied because they were not centered on an innovative idea.
• Field trip funding requests exceeding 25 percent of the total amount requested. We recognize that school travel budgets have shrunk over the years. A grant request can include up to 25 percent of the total amount requested for travel. Keep in mind, the request must be centered on an idea, not on a field trip. In other words, the field trip should be one of several methods used to supplement the teaching idea.
• One-time events. Classroom Innovation Grants are designed and developed for classroom application. Though we have funded projects that may have culminated in a poetry reading, school play, or garden harvest, we will not fund requests for special events only.