When my phone rang yesterday afternoon a colleague was on the other end of the line. "I knew you'd still be here," she started. "Can you tell me how to find the mini-grant application?"
Our school is fortunate enough to have a PTA which is willing to fund teachers' discretionary expenses if we fill out a simple application explaining how those expenditures will benefit our students.
I told her where it was the last time I checked, which was a few years ago. She thanked me, and after we hung up, I clicked through a few links to double check my advice. Sure enough, there it was, but it was a little outdated since our former principal's signature was still required before submission.
It was just last week when one of my students asked me about my annual writing challenge. It's a hundred words a day for a hundred days in a row, and she'd heard about it from her brother. "Are we going to get to do that?" she asked.
"You bet!" I said, and assured all the other students that they would know all about it before the March 1 start date.
Looking at that grant application reminded me that I have been meaning to get a little underwriting for the prizes for the last couple of years. As the challenge has gained in popularity, so have my out of pocket expenses.
Without a second thought, I downloaded the word document, changed the principal's name, and composed four paragraphs explaining the nuts and bolts and objective of my challenge. Just as I finished, the director of guidance came into my room to return something she'd borrowed. "Susan, do we still do PTA mini-grants?" I asked her, thinking about the outdated form.
"Yep," she assured me.
"Good!" I answered with relief, "because I just wrote one."
"Really?" she said, "There's a PTA meeting tonight. I can present it if you want."
I couldn't believe my luck as I handed the form over. "Thank you so much!"
This morning, Susan came to my room with a thumbs up. "It was unanimously approved!" she told me. "In fact, there was a parent of one of your former students there. She told everyone how her daughter hated writing in elementary school, but after sixth grade in your class? She writes all the time! You changed her life! You should have seen it-- we all got a little teary. It was like a Hallmark moment all over a mini-grant!"
Our school is fortunate enough to have a PTA which is willing to fund teachers' discretionary expenses if we fill out a simple application explaining how those expenditures will benefit our students.
I told her where it was the last time I checked, which was a few years ago. She thanked me, and after we hung up, I clicked through a few links to double check my advice. Sure enough, there it was, but it was a little outdated since our former principal's signature was still required before submission.
It was just last week when one of my students asked me about my annual writing challenge. It's a hundred words a day for a hundred days in a row, and she'd heard about it from her brother. "Are we going to get to do that?" she asked.
"You bet!" I said, and assured all the other students that they would know all about it before the March 1 start date.
Looking at that grant application reminded me that I have been meaning to get a little underwriting for the prizes for the last couple of years. As the challenge has gained in popularity, so have my out of pocket expenses.
Without a second thought, I downloaded the word document, changed the principal's name, and composed four paragraphs explaining the nuts and bolts and objective of my challenge. Just as I finished, the director of guidance came into my room to return something she'd borrowed. "Susan, do we still do PTA mini-grants?" I asked her, thinking about the outdated form.
"Yep," she assured me.
"Good!" I answered with relief, "because I just wrote one."
"Really?" she said, "There's a PTA meeting tonight. I can present it if you want."
I couldn't believe my luck as I handed the form over. "Thank you so much!"
This morning, Susan came to my room with a thumbs up. "It was unanimously approved!" she told me. "In fact, there was a parent of one of your former students there. She told everyone how her daughter hated writing in elementary school, but after sixth grade in your class? She writes all the time! You changed her life! You should have seen it-- we all got a little teary. It was like a Hallmark moment all over a mini-grant!"
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