By MATT PIKE
One of the better-known programs from the St. Joseph School District Foundation helps teachers bring innovative ideas into their classrooms.
The Apple Seed Classroom Innovation Grants range from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars provided entirely through community donations. The grants give schools the opportunity to explore new ideas in the classroom.
Foundation Director Julie Cobb says the Apple Seed grants go back to the roots of why the foundation was formed.
"This is what the Foundation was actually founded on in 1984, so that program has been around awhile," Cobb says on the KFEQmunnity show. "Last year we did about nine grants through Apple Seed that funded almost $20,000, so its a big program and the requests range from anywhere from a few hundred dollars all the way to six, seven, and eight thousand dollars."
The grant cycle for this year is currently closed and applications are being evaluated. Cobb says winners will be chosen and revealed later this month for teachers who will receive Apple Seed grants.
Cobb says the number of applications range from 45 to 50 applicants each year.
"So, what we will do is take a look at which ones are most innovative, which ones have not been done before, and which ones we just really think can affect the most students at a time, so those are some of our criteria," Cobb explains. "And then we have a few community members, along with some St. Joseph School District Leadership, weigh in on them to determine the winners."
Cobb says with each application its fun to see some of the ideas teachers and staff come up with to do.
"Last year one of our high school math teachers used calculators to program some robotics, it was really fun to watch the kids engage in that," Cobb says. "The year before we had a teacher that invested in some laser printers to recreate and research signs and businesses from the past in St. Joe and share a little bit about those."
To learn more about the St. Joseph School District Foundation and the Apple Seed Program, as well as other programs from the foundation, you can click HERE.
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