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Valley Forward is pleased to announce up to $5,000 in grant funding for the 2010-11 school year, made possible by STMicroelectronics and our event partners. Arizona teachers in K-12 can apply for funding to support environmental projects in their classroom, at their school or in their community. Projects must enhance awareness of and interest in environmental sustainability.

About the Program

• Arizona educators may apply for grants to support projects that are environmental in nature and that focus on such topics as: energy, water, air quality, transportation, land planning, plants and animals or waste management.
• One or more grants will be awarded.
• Deadline for submitting applications is 4 p.m., December 10, 2010. Applications may be mailed or emailed to info@valleyforward.org.
• Project must be completed by May 1, 2011.
• Valley Forward will select the winner(s), who will be notified on or before January 7, 2011.

Selection Criteria

1. Projects must target students in K-12 and focus on the above listed topics.
2. Projects submitted may be stand-alone, joint efforts with other classrooms or entire schools and may also support existing projects.
3. Projects with matching funds and/or in-kind contributions will be considered.
4. Valley Forward reserves the right to modify any of the above criteria if adequate documentation shows that particular projects will have significant educational and environmental value.

Awards
One or more grants will be awarded at the discretion of the Valley Forward's Environmental Education Committee.

How to Apply
Teachers should complete and return the EarthFest Education Grant Application Form, along with a short project description of no more than two pages and relevant supporting material. Valley Forward must receive applications, no later than4 p.m., December 10, 2010.

Within 30 days of the project's completion, grant recipient(s) will be required to complete a project summary form provided by Valley Forward and submit it along with photos of the project. Failure to submit these materials will disqualify submitters from receiving future grants.

VALLEY FORWARD'S 2008-09 EARTHFEST EDUCATION GRANT
TEACHER/PROJECT RECIPIENTS:

• Burk Elementary School (Gilbert): $1,368 – Awarded to Lori Gallas, a teacher of gifted students in grades 4-6, for a project titled, “Arizona Speaks.” The students in Mrs. Gallas’s Accelerated Learning Program (ALP) will create a Virtual Classroom on the Internet. The Virtual Classroom will showcase pod casts created by the students to promote the natural resources of Arizona and encourage conservation of the land. The pod casts will focus on environmental issues important to the citizens of Arizona. Students will also create a series of public service announcements pertaining to the school and the town of Gilbert.
• Dobson High School (Mesa): $500 – Awarded to Shannon Hellem, a high school teacher, for a project titled, “Teaching Teenagers About Trash.” Students involved in the Environmental Club at Dobson High will expand the recycling program on campus. They will hold seminars on recycling and purchase recycling bins to teach teenagers how important it is to be environmentally conscious.
• Bios Christian Academy (Higley): $487 – Awarded to Beth Ihms, a science high school teacher, for a project titled, “Will Growing Gardens of Native Plants in Urban Areas Support the Pollinators?” Working in conjunction with the Gilbert Riparian Preserve, students will participate in field research to determine which native plants attract the most pollinators and what type of pollinators they attract. This data will then be turned over to the Riparian Preserve to use for community education to help encourage people to plant native plants in their garden and yards.
• Gateway Early College High School (Phoenix): $800 – Awarded to Theresa Johnson, a biology instructor, for a project titled, “Water Quality Monitoring at the Rio Salado and Environmental Science Night.” Approximately 100 students in grades 9-10 will characterize and monitor both water quality and riparian ecology at two sites along the Rio Salado. They will use the collected data to create a comprehensive comparison of the two sites. This will illustrate to students the diverse range of water quality and demonstrate a greater understanding of the extent to which human decisions imp act local ecosystems.
• Madison Simis Elementary (Phoenix): $1,500 – Awarded to Michelle Landreville, an elementary school teacher, for a project titled, “DIGGS Gardening Program.” Funding will support the school’s DIGGS program, a volunteer-run gardening project established in 1999. DIGGS has 100% participation from all classrooms and will expand with additional irrigated garden sites, add a sensory garden with pathways and benches, replace worn out and broken equipment, replace supplies used for classroom curriculum and thoroughly train volunteers.
• Hartford Sylvia Encinas Elementary (Chandler): $900 – Awarded to Julia Palazzi, coordinator of the Recycling Club, for a project titled, “Hartford’s Farmer’s Market.” Part one of this project is to have students collect leftover food, coffee grounds, ground clippings and soiled paper to create a school compost. It will then be used as a fertilizer to grow organic vegetables, fruits and flowers in a school garden. Part two is to set up a cistern to collect rainwater to be used to water the garden. Once the garden is fully productive the students will hold quarterly Community Farmers Markets.
• Mesquite Junior High School (Gilbert): $1,000 – Awarded to Cheryl Vitale, a science/ecology teacher, for a project titled, “AZ Ecology.” The Arizona Ecology project is an elective class that educates students on conservation, recycling and endangered species in Arizona. Students will work with ASU Ecology Explorers collecting arthropod data to measure the affect of urbanization on our environment. They will also develop a field guide to help identify and appreciate local plant and animal species.
• Cheatham Elementary (Laveen): $700 – Awarded to Cory Woodard, an elementary school teacher, for the project titled, “Operation Clean Up Cheatham.” Students at Cheatham Elementary will be in charge cleaning up the campus and planting flowers and trees that are native to Arizona. Depending on the grade level, students will learn a wide variety of science standards. The project will show students how cleaning the Earth is important, learning different ideas about science and plants and how to care for their school.

Application materials must be submitted to:

Valley Forward Association
ATTN: EarthFest Education Grant
3800 N. Central Avenue, Suite 220
Phoenix, AZ 85012
Email: info@valleyforward.org

Download an application in any of the following formats:
Word(540 KB) | PDF(114 KB)

STMicroelectronics, Inc. & our event partners fund the EarthFest Education Grant