Title 5 funds are to be used for alcohol and drug abuse education and prevention. State governments often have their own system of grants in addition to the federal funds The building principal is often the best source of information about grants available from the federal and state government. In Missouri, two statewide competitions offer grant money to educators and school districts. The Christa McAuliffe Fellowship is awarded to one teacher annually. The Missouri Incentives for School Excellence grants funds to projects proposed by an individual teacher, a group of teachers, a building staff or a district staff.
Grants are also available from businesses and organizations.
If you are investigating a grant from a source outside the education community, contact the executive in charge of contributions, the assistant to the president, or the director of public relations. My Experience I believe that my success in winning the Christa McAuliffe Fellowship in 1994 can be attributed to the planning that took place as our district split a high school collection with a new middle school. While we were building a new high school, a committee of parents, teachers, administrators and librarians identified library needs and set priorities for a five-year plan. Each of the libraries has received Chapter II funds, with annual committee discussion of how the funds would be spent for the target library. Counting the time spent in planning the new school library, my proposal was the result of more than two years of gathering information, setting goals, and watching the progress of similar projects.