ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, August 6, 1996 TAG: 9608060042
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: RADFORD
SOURCE: LISA APPLEGATE STAFF WRITER
He keeps a "grants-to-get" file and wakes at 5 some mornings to write down ideas.
Through his efforts, science teacher Frank Taylor earned more than $20,000 for Radford High School this year. When school starts this fall, he'll have three ongoing projects, including a study of the monarch butterfly's migration path and a garden built with fellow teacher Tina Frye.
Like several other teachers in the area, Taylor managed to find extra creativity and hours in the day to earn money through grant writing. As state and local money for education dwindles, teachers are using grant money more and more to purchase equipment and initiate their own programs in the classroom.
Montgomery County even hired a grants writer last year, a position usually utilized by larger school systems. Cindy Martin said as teachers become more aware of her, she's getting more requests for help for first-time grants.
Christiansburg Elementary School teacher Kim Helms won two grants from the Montgomery County school system after watching her co-workers apply for them. She said she felt a bit overwhelmed the first time she wrote a grant, especially when she considered she might win it.
"I thought, 'Wow this is huge. There's a lot of money involved and I don't know if I can really pull it off,'" she said.
Confidence comes from experience, though, and Taylor said there are a few things teachers can do to get the grant ball rolling.
Like any profession, he said, teachers should maintain an updated resume. Find new grant opportunities through teaching journals, newsletters and especially word of mouth. Read successful grants and analyze why those worked.
Also, know the hand that feeds you. Taylor said corporations that donate grant money usually have specific goals in mind. Teachers should gear their proposals around that.
Most importantly, be creative.
"It needs to have some unique twist to it," Taylor said. "Say you really need computers and there's just not enough money. Not having money isn't enough anymore - it needs to be about getting kids excited," Taylor said.
As a former track coach, Taylor said he enjoys the competition as much as the satisfaction of providing something exciting for the students. Out of 1,300 applications for a $10,000 Toyota Motor Corp. grant, for example, Taylor was one of only 40 teachers nationwide to earn one.
Helms said she also enjoys the challenge, but finds taking her own time to apply for grants frustrating.
"I feel like there are fun or creative ideas that I can't do with what the materials schools give me," she said. "It's difficult when I know the outcome can be increased self-esteem and learning for the kids."
Helms said she would like to see more opportunities for teachers to get together and share grant ideas. She said other school systems have invited her to speak, but she's never been asked to share her techniques with fellow teachers.
Martin - the former grants coordinator for the Montgomery County government - said as her position develops, she plans to send more information out to teachers through e-mail and monthly newsletters.
Sharing ideas and encouragement, Helms said, leads to the most important key to grant writing: having faith.
"A lot of people think that their idea isn't new enough. But every teacher in this county is doing something innovative in their classrooms."
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