Resources
Teachers & Staff, see the link below to fill out your grant application.
Due date is Nov. 14 (Auction night)!
A limit of $1,000 per application. Email here for questions: donate@bpsforkids.org
Immersive Teacher Experience
As a thank you to your continued work at Bethany Public Schools, the BPSF would like to offer a new and exciting program aimed at providing hands-on experiences that refuels your passion for your subject field and equips you with tools to bring back to the classroom - the Immersive Teacher Experience program.
1. Each year BPSF will set aside $10,000 (the "Annual Cap") to be allocated towards Immersive Teacher Experiences.
2. Individual awards will be capped at $2,000.
3. Applicants must have completed at least 3 years of teaching at BPS.
4. Applicants are limited to 1 grant every 5 years, unless a shortage of applications are submitted any given year and annual funding remains unspent.
5. Experience must be immersive, hands on relating to the subject taught by the teacher. Cannot be sitting in a conference room completing a fill in the blank workbook.
6. Following the experience, recipients must meet with and share their experience with BPSF.
7. At the direction of the Superintendent, recipients should expect to share their experience at an all staff meeting - highlighting what they did, what they learned, and how it will be implemented in the classroom. This is to encourage other teachers to apply for similar programs.
8. To apply, email BPSF (donate@bpsforkids.org) information on the experience, the experience’s website, a brief narrative of how the experience will enhance the classroom or student learning, total estimated cost of the experience, and total dollars requested. Applicants must obtain written support from the respective principal and emailed to BPSF concurrently with the aforementioned. Applicants shall have already applied to and been accepted into the program.
9. Applications will be accepted year round and, upon receipt, will be reviewed at the next BPSF meeting. Applications are not necessarily first come first serve, but once the Annual Cap has been allocated no more awards will be provided until the following calendar year.
10. This program and funding are entirely subjective and determined by BPSF. This could end at any given time for any reason whatsoever as deemed necessary by BPSF. So take advantage of it now!
Below are links to a few potential experiences - certainly not the only ones that would fit this program. Should you come across opportunities not listed below, please email information to donate@bpsforkids.org.
We also encourage you to pursue other opportunities that well exceed $2,000. Click the image to submit applications for study/travel worldwide!
Did you know some major corporations will not donate to foundations but will contribute to requests on Donors Choose? Be sure to submit your project here!
Teacher/Staff Grants
The Foundation seeks to fund applications that are innovative, motivating, and/or encouraging to teachers/staff/students.
Guidelines
All grant applications, to the extent possible, should first be posted on Donor’s Choose (“DC”, www.donorschoose.org). Grant applications for items that cannot be purchased on DC, such as teacher development programs or items not found on DC’s approved vendor list, can be applied for through BPSF’s online grant application.
BPSF encourages every teacher, coach, staff, etc. to apply on DC AND to BPSF; however priority and preference will be granted towards clubs or activities that do not receive funding from other district events and resources (such as the district’s operating budget, collection of gate fees, etc.).
All BPSF funded applications shall provide photos of their grant in action in order to solicit future BPSF grants.
Applications for general supplies typically paid for by district funds will not be approved (such as paper, color markers, etc.).
BPSF may set a limit of $1,000 per grant application (the “Cap”) unless the application includes two or more teachers/staff.
BPSF may donate to items exceeding the Cap that are posted on DC.
The best times to post projects on DC:
Back-to-School Season (August-October): High donor activity as individuals look to support classrooms at the start of the school year.
Holiday Season (November-December): Generosity increases during the holidays, with many donors seeking tax-deductible contributions.
Spring Giving (March-April): Donors often support projects with the intent of helping students finish the year strong. Avoid posting projects during summer unless they are for summer programs, as donor activity tends to decrease.
Timeframes
Application period: Applications can be submitted to DC year round. Applications to BPSF can be submitted February 1 until midnight the day before the Impact Auction (Auction typically held on the second Thursday of November).
BPSF will meet in mid-January of the following year to review/discuss/approve of funding, with announcements following soon thereafter.
We appreciate your efforts to inspire and educate our students!
