The details
According to a district news release, Northwest ISD teachers who work directly with students can apply for these grants either individually or as part of a team. Individual educators can request up to $2,500, while teams can apply for up to $7,500. Educators have until Sept. 26 to submit their grant applications.
Quote of note
“It’s always exciting to see the inspired ideas that our teachers come up with,” said Alyssa Pry, NEF director of communications and public relations. “Our grant committee is passionate about funding innovative projects that enhance education and positively impact student learning.”
The news release states the foundation awarded $65,755 in grants in the 2023-24 school year, which adds up to more than $1.8 million in grants since its inception. These grants enable educators to infuse creativity into their teaching by funding initiatives that aren’t covered by traditional tax dollars.
Zooming in
The news release highlighted two teachers who received grants in the past. Sarah Hallin, a biology teacher at Byron Nelson High School, led the charge on a team grant application.
“We knew we wanted to do something impactful, but we weren’t sure what form it would take or how it would come together,” Hallin said. “As we brainstormed together, we realized we could turn this into a larger project that involved parents and the community. It became something much bigger than we originally imagined.”
The grant funded a lesson titled "Exploring the Hidden Depths of Sharks," where students formulated a claim, conducted research, dissected a Dogfish shark to gather evidence and presented their findings in a poster presentation, according to the news release.
“I think that there are so many teachers that have so many great ideas, but with the funding in our education system, it’s not always feasible to be able to do that,” Hallin said. “We are fortunate enough to have NEF as a partner, helping make our dream of what we want for our kids come to reality.”
The news releases states Cox Elementary Librarian Jaime Jensen was able to bring her dream of a more robust robotics team to life through an NEF grant. She purchased additional robotics equipment for her third, fourth and fifth graders and expanded the program to include second graders. By participating in the program, students were able to learn the following skills:
- Coding
- Problem-solving
- Teamwork
- Storytelling
