Applicants who are interested in applying for grant funding through our foundation are asked that the proposals they submit address the following criteria:

Click here to download a District 181 Foundation Grant Application & Grant Application Letter. The next deadline for grant applications for this year is March 1, 2007

Please know that you can obtain a grant application and letter from any District 181 school principal.

District 181 Annual Grant Allocations by Year
2007-2008: The Foundation funded eight grants for the school year for a total of $32,795.00. The following projects were funded:

Integrated, Differentiated, Utilized—Roger Taylor’s Curriculum Design Online: Hundreds of multi-discipline, fully integrated, age appropriate options to meet the needs of a differentiated classroom.

Math and Technology Fusion: A pilot project in the Middle Schools to measure the effectiveness of tablet PC’s and Personal Response Systems (PRS) in certain 6th, 7th, and 8th grade math classes.

Geo Mat Fitness: This program is a non-competitive tool for teaching physical fitness that incorporates mathematical concepts along with physical fitness and movement concepts.

United Video Streaming Subscription for the Middle Schools: Downloadable video segments of a number and variety that far exceeds anything that could be purchased by the schools for teachers to use at will in their teaching.

Managing the Tiers without Tears: A reading support program that expands the Harcourt Reading Program and provides differentiated support materials for all second grade readers.

Soaring to Fluency Success: All the materials necessary to implement the One-Minute Leveled Reader Program, a home/school reading fluency program provides students with tools that help them become more effective readers.

Big-6 Systematic Research Model: A uniform method for teaching research skills to students living in a world of information overload.

Celebrating and Appreciating Hispanic Cultures through Children’s Literature: A program that will expose children to various aspects of Hispanic culture and help students recognize similarities and differences in cultures.

2006-2007 The Foundation funded eight grants for this school year in the sum of $ 20,465.00. The following grants were funded:

IPods in Action: This grant will trial the use of five I Pods, ILife Family Package software, microphones and speakers within the Oak School fifth grade curriculum. The IPods will be used for pod casts and interviews that are incorporated into curricular studies. Students will also be able to record and listen to e-books that are related to the curriculum or incorporate some of their original music works into pod casts through the garage band 3 application which is a part of the iLife 06 Family Package Software.

Watersheds in Our Community: This grant will fund a problem based learning Life Science unit for the fifth graders at Elm School. The purpose of this unit is to make students aware of the importance of biodiversity and interrelationships between humans and their surrounding environment.

Yoga for Physical Education: This grant funds a two day “Yoga for Kids” workshop to service all the children at Oak School during their physical education class. It will be conducted by a master yoga instructor and presented in a playful way to give children a feeling of self-expression and creativity; while enabling students to increase their flexibility and ability to focus and control anxiety.

Resource Center for Differentiated Learning: This grant will fund the start up of a curriculum resource center that will be available to all teachers at both middle schools. It will provide resources that enable middle school teachers to help higher level learners through differentiating and extending the current curriculum, encouraging higher-level thinking and enhancing their learning experience.

Digital USP Microscopy: This grant provides each middle schools 6th and 7th grade science classes with a ProScope CSI kit. These digital USP microscopes allow the collection of microscopy or telescope data in the form of digital pictures that may be saved to a computer. Permanent visual records of microscopy work allows for additional manipulation of data after the live specimens have died and expands the class collaboration experiences.

Math Exemplar Software: This grant will fund a Math Exemplar software program which will be incorporated into the Monroe school mathematic curriculum. This software provides problems that encourage children to investigate their own thinking and learn how to communicate that thinking, thus helping them learn about their own thought processes as well as helping others the understand theirs.

Musical Instrument Acquisition: This grant is to fund the acquisition of a baritone saxophone and a quarter-size contrabass for the HMS Band students. These instruments are imperative for the growth of HMS’s music program, that supports a long-term vision of establishing a larger district wide ensemble. Currently CHMS has these instruments.

MotivAiders; Improvement Through Independence: This grant will fund tools that have shown the improvement of behaviors or tasks through independent self monitoring. Alerting the child with these devices, to check whether they are talking or working quietly, enables the child to feel proud if they are on task or be quietly reminded to continue working, without being called upon by a teacher.
2005-2006: The Foundation funded five grants for the school year in the Sum of $14,528. The following grants were funded:

Bridging The Literacy Gap Grant: Funds will be used to purchase tape recorders and audio books sets for children in our district that do not speak English as their first language. The program will help to increase their English language literacy and allow them to continue learning at home with their families. This grant was put together by one of the district’s TPI teachers.

Independent Readers: Road to Success Grant: Funds will be used to provide books, baskets and a standard book categorizing and evaluation system for readers in grades K-2 that are working with the Reading Specialists at all elementary schools within the district.

Wireless Cart Peripherals for the Middle Schools: The MRC directors at each middle school will use the funding to support and expand the creative learning capabilities of their Wireless Laptop Carts. The existing carts are in place, our funds will equip them with Digital Cameras, Camcorders, Photo-Smart printers and Projectors. These additional tools will be used by classroom teachers in support of their student’s projects and evaluated by the MRC directors and classroom teachers jointly.

Differentiated Class Room Seating: Funds will be used by a Madison School first grade teacher to purchase unique ball chairs. These chairs offer an alternative way to assist children with their focus and concentration skills during reading time.

Brain Muffs: Funds will be used by Lane School teachers to purchase noise canceling headsets. These will be used by children during classroom time, to assist them with the blockage of outside distractions and increase their focus and concentration skills.

2004-2005: The Foundation funded one grant for the school year in the sum of $5,008.

Literature/Writing Connection Grant: Using the Six Traits of Writing (Voice, Ideas, Word Choice, Sentence Fluency, Organization and Conventions) A group of teachers at Walker School hope to strengthen the writing skills of all students in kindergarten through fifth grade. Workshops for teachers and parents have been conducted. Related books have been purchased which support the program.

2003-2004: The foundation funded three grant requests for the school year in sum of $9,930. The following projects were funded:

Technology Skills Improvement Project: A district wide initiative designed to enable teachers to effectively integrate technology tools into core curricula. Phase one focused on grades K-2

Excellence in Mathematics Enrichment: Four family math nights were hosted at HMS. Three focused on grades K-8 and the fourth highlighted grades 6-8 families specifically.

Computation Carryout: Motivating Students to Math Fact Mystery: A creative Oak School approach to addressing the need to improve a student's mastery of basic facts with greater speed and accuracy.

2002-2003: The foundation funded four grant requests for the school year in sum of $8,700. The following projects were funded:

Celebration of Literacy: An innovative department and grade level initiative at Hinsdale Middle School featuring a two-hour event one evening each quarter, with themes ranging from mystery and vocabulary to writing and poetry.

Author's Studio and Season of Writing: An initiative from Madison School with a goal of improving and enriching student's writing skills.

Writing Across the Curriculum: A grant supporting the School Improvement Team at Elm School in an effort to vertically integrate writing across the curriculum.

Prewriting with Technology: An initiative from the School Improvement Team at Prospect School, to fund the purchase and use of software to support writing instruction.

The following Special Initiatives have driven a major portion of the Foundation’s fundraising efforts.

2006-2007: Virtual Reference Library for HMS & CHMS Students:
At CHMS & HMS, wireless technology has moved research from the library to the classroom. Technology has had an indisputable impact on how information is provided, sought and used. The need for accurate, comprehensive and up to date information remains constant, regardless of where the student is located. Reference books that are used by students in the MRC are not available to students working in classrooms. Providing the students with quality, age and subject appropriate material, when ever and where ever they need it, will ensure they are getting the most out of their learning experience.

This on line “Virtual Reference Library” will provide the students of HMS and CHMS and their families, access to all the reference books located in their middle school MRC’s and expand upon those collections. These E-books will support 6-12th grade level material and there is no limit to the number of simultaneous users on the Virtual Reference Library. A total of 96, new hard cover reference books will also be purchased and used to balance the MRC reference collections between the two middle schools. This is a great way to utilize technology and increase our middle school library collections. The Foundation will be funding $ 17,478.00 for the set up of this Virtual Reference Library and will cover the first year subscription costs for both schools.