With the state’s purse strings pulled even tighter, finding alternative sources of funding is a constant chore for local school administrators.
That’s why Brian Pekarek, USD 257 superintendent of schools, has become a champion of applying for federal grants.
Through recent efforts of district administrators, teachers and SAFE BASE staff, a modest goal of $100,000 in grant funding was shattered. Pekarek was able to report at the most recent board meeting the district reaching $1 million for the 2011-2012 fiscal year.
Pekarek got hooked on the funding method when he was superintendent of schools at USD 224.
“We had managed to get every teacher in my previous district to write at least one grant proposal,” Pekarek said. “It could be $500 or $1,000 as long as it was educational friendly.”
The efforts paid off with the Clifton-Clyde district earning more than $500,000 in two years.
Then came the move to Iola for Pekarek.
With a larger district with significantly higher poverty rates, Pekarek saw an even greater need to attract outside funding.
Monthly workshops helped train teachers and staff to write the detail-heavy grants.
One example of the effect the workshops had was in John Wilson, science teacher at Iola Middle School. Wilson, an avid outdoors enthusiast, wanted to get involved with something that would do things two-fold. First, he wanted to get students outside with a hands-on project.
“I want to get them into a situation where they can see what they are learning in the classroom and really apply it to something they can touch. It’ll also help build community because they’ll be able to come back years from now and say, ‘I helped build that’.”
Second, he wanted to do something that could help instill a sense of teamwork among students.
“The (Outdoor Wildlife Learning Sites) grant I applied for is something that will be really good for students,” Wilson said. “We’ll be building some kind of water feature and then growing some wild grass which hopefully will attract things like butterflies. The project will be totally student-built as well so it’ll give kids a chance to colaborate and learn what it takes to put one of these projects through from beginning to end. Hopefully we will be able to continue the project in future years with further funding from the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism who gave us the initial grant.”
Wilson’s grant was for $2,000.
ON THE HIGHER end of funding, SAFE BASE was recently awarded $584,473 to take the popular after-school program another five years.
“Over the last 12 years, we have brought in $5.5 million in grant funding to the community,” said Angela Henry, SAFE BASE director. “We’ve been a completely grant-funded program over that period of time.”
