VT Heart Rate Monitors Grant
It’s exciting to see states stepping up to the plate to encourage schools to improve physical education (PE) programs to increase student activity and decrease obesity! Especially considering the tough economy. Yesterday we discussed PA’s new program for middle schools. Today we look at the Vermont Department of Education’s 2009-2010 School Wellness Grant Application for Implementation of Heart Rate Monitors in High School Physical Education—fondly referred to (at least by me 
) ) as the VT HRMs grant. http://education.vermont.gov/new/html/pgm_curriculum/physical_ed.html#monitor_app
This grant surfaced in 2007. Lindsay Simpson (802-828-1461 or lindsay.simpson@state.vt.us) at VT Department of Education is the program contact, and I can’t say enough good things about her. She is extremely committed to improving PE across the state and to this program in particular. My professional communications with her have revealed her to be a very helpful, responsive contact who is ready and willing to support PE programs in her state in any way that she can. This year’s late May application release is just one more example of her ongoing efforts to make VT schools successful. While the program has historically had a pretty short application period (just a few weeks to a month), this year schools have been given several months to prepare their applications: the deadline is September 18, 2009.
Any Vermont public school serving grades 9-12 may apply for this grant, provided the school has not already won this grant and/or has not already won a Carol M. White Physical Education Program (PEP) grant. Three applicants will be selected to receive awards of up to $9,000 for the purchase and implementation of Polar heart rate monitors (www.polarusa.com/education) to ensure objective assessment of time spent physical active in PE. Awardees will be notified by October 9, 2009. (I love the quick turn-around this program provides! It’s a rare treat to know the results of your grant efforts so soon after submission.) All project activities, expenditures, and required reporting must be completed by June 30, 2010.
As found on page 2 of the RFP, the goals of this program are to:
- Document and increase the amount of time high school students spend engaged in moderate to vigorous physical activity during physical education.
- Develop student self-knowledge, personal goal setting and fitness planning skills for lifetime physical activity.
- Develop students’ 21st century skills of tracking, interpreting and evaluating personal physical activity effort with objective, technological measures.
The RFP is clearly written and easy to respond to, but you will need time to gather information and form the required project committee (see page 4 of the RFP), if you do not already have one in place. The committee verification DOES require signatures from ALL members—in addition to your administrator—to evidence commitment and support for the project. Hence, I recommend taking full advantage of the additional time the Department of Education has allowed for this year.
What additional thoughts or questions do you have? Good luck to all applicants! Be sure to let us know via comments on this blog or info@insightgrants.com if you win an award!
New Grant: Active Schools—PA!
Today Pennsylvania Department of Health’s (PDH) brand new Active Schools Grant competition opened! All program and application information can be found at www.dsf.health.state.pa.us/health/cwp/view.asp?q=253256. This is an exciting new opportunity for middle schools in Pennsylvania offering $5,000 in grant funding from PDH PLUS more in matching grant funds. The exciting—and unusual—part of this program is that most applicants can expect a 2-to-1 match (bringing the total grant award to $15,000) that they do not have to drum up on their own. Area foundations have already committed to participating in this program, and PDH will match winning applicants with matching funders at the time of the award. This is an outstanding example of public-private partnership to battle childhood obesity!
Proposed grant projects must provide students with at least 30 to 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous daily physical activity. Schools need to implement evidence-based programs. A discussion of PDH-approved programs which includes HopSports (www.hopsports.com), Project Fit America (www.projectfitamerica.org), and SPARK (www.sparkpe.org) is available on the website, though applicants are not restricted to programs in this listing. Other options may be incorporated in addition to or in place of these programs with an adequate justification. Aerobic activity must make up the bulk of daily activity time, but muscle and bone strengthening exercises should each be included for part of the period at least three days per week. (See the bottom of page 2 and the top of page 3 of the grant application guidelines for more details.) Funds may be used to enhance or improve but not replace existing physical education (PE) programs. Unallowable expenses include: administrative/indirect costs; food purchases; new construction or capital expenses; staffing for existing job responsibilities; and purchase of computers (except for laptops to be used to track progress and/or as part of the evaluation), televisions and DVD players.
Middle schools or other school buildings serving two or more middle school grads (6, 7, and 
may apply for grants. Approximately 40 awards are anticipated, with the announcement of winners expected in September. Grants are for the 2009-2010 school year, however renewal for the 2010-2011 school year may be an option pending availability of funds. Please keep in mind, however, that PDH is still looking to fund projects that are likely to be sustainable without additional funding.
The application deadline is a little unclear at this point. The main program page says applications will be accepted June 1-30, however the application guidance indicates applications are due by 5pm on July 1, 2009. I have submitted an inquiry to try to determine the correct deadline and will update the blog when a response is received.
PDH funds are coming from the federal Preventive Health and Health Services Block Grant offered through the US Department of Health and Human Services. Those of you who win this grant will want to keep that in mind as you apply for future state and federal funds, as sometimes you are asked to disclose all federal funding streams. Also, when applying for federal grants requiring a match, you are typically not allowed to use other grant funds that originated from the federal government—even if your directly received them from the state as in this case.
What are your thoughts on this new program? If you apply and win, let us know via comments or at info@insightgrants.com. If you need assistance with your application, email the info address ASAP for information on our services and pricing.
Take Advantage of Summer
June starts this weekend, and summer is upon us. Some school districts are already off for the summer; others will be finishing up within in the next month. If you have the benefit of summers off, or even if summers typically mean a reduced workload or less stress within your organization, use the summer to your grant-seeking advantage. There are often fewer grant applications open in the summer, so it’s a great time to organize and prepare for the major grant seasons which tend to be fall and spring for our topic areas—with spring typically offering the largest-dollar, most complex opportunities.
Here’s a quick list of some of the things you might do between the barbeques, graduation parties, weddings, beach runs, and vacations this summer.
· Talk with colleagues and administrators to develop a team-supported, concrete project concept for which you will apply for grant funding. While you will likely need to tweak the plan based on each grant you apply to, having a solid idea to start with will keep you focused on the opportunities best suited to your goals.
· Research grant opportunities, and create a list of what you’d like to apply for in the next 12 months. Include estimated application timeframes for planning purposes and web site links so you can check for program updates throughout the year.
· Begin collecting and organizing demographic information and data that illustrates your target population’s need.
· Identify and begin building or expanding relationships with community partners and leaders that could potentially enhance your project.
· Talk with colleagues and administrators to determine who can and will lead actual grant writing efforts. It’s valuable to have a team supporting you, but a single writer is usually your best bet for clarity and consistency. If your organization determines it will contract with a consultant for assistance, be sure to hire someone with successful experience pursuing and winning grant funding for the type of project you have in mind.
· Set up a system for tracking your grant applications.
· Make a list of other key “to dos,” including when in the year those actions should be taken.
Can you think of others? Feel free to share them!
2010 Federal Budget Update: US Department of Education Grants
Pertinent to the topic areas of physical education, physical activity, health and safety programs for youth, here are the budget amounts the President has requested for SOME key grant programs within the US Department of Education for 2010.
· Safe and Drug-Free School sand Communities State Grants (Title IV-A): $0 (compared to $294,759,000 in 2009)
· Grants to Reduce Alcohol Abuse Among Secondary Students: $32,712,000
· Mentoring Program: $0 (compared to $47,254,000 in 2009)
· Character Education: $0 (compared to $11,912,000 in 2009)
· Elementary and Secondary School Counseling: $52,000,000
· Carol M. White Physical Education Program (PEP): $78,000,000
· 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21CCLC): $1,131,166,000
· Grants for the Integration of Schools and Mental Health Systems: $6,900,000 (compared to $5,900,000 in 2009)
· Readiness and Emergency Response for Schools (REMS): $40,000,000
· Safe Schools/Healthy Students (SS/HS): $77,800,000
The President has also proposed a new $100,000,000 grant to support to approaches to changing school culture that will ultimately improve character and reduce risk behaviors, and $300,000,000 for a new program known as the Early Learning Challenge Fund. While it’s still unclear what exactly is envisioned for these programs, the latter program is intended to fund competitive grants to states for social and learning services for children five years old and under. Programs will be reviewed for quality based on a variety of elements, including health and safety.
The federal fiscal year runs October 1-September 30. The process begins with the President proposing his budget plan for the coming fiscal year. The House of Representatives and Senate each review it and propose their own budget plans—separately. When, as individual houses, they’ve agreed on a plan, they then work to reconcile the two plans into one that they both can agree on. It must be passed into law by Congress and then signed by the President. This process typically takes many months and many compromises.
Right now, we’re in the Congressional review part of the process. The President has proposed a budget, but no Congressional action has been taken on the 2010 Education budget yet. At this point in the process, it we do not yet know which programs will materialize and at what amount. Congress may reject or change part or all of the proposed budget, though the President’s suggestions do seem to be more in line with Congressional efforts in recent years than the previous administration’s education proposals. It will be interesting to see what Congress’s proposals look like in the coming months and what is ultimately passed.
What are your thoughts on the President’s 2010 Education budget?
Why a Grant Template is a Bad Idea
I often receive requests for and questions about creating grant templates/boilerplates for organizations about to begin the grant-seeking process. This is a service I refuse to offer because I find templates to be bad practice. While there are some common types of information most funders are looking for, and there will be some text and information you can use in multiple grant applications, the reality is each funder has its own priorities and RFP layout. Sending a template out to multiple funders suggests to the funder that you have not taken the time to review their individual goals, objectives, priorities, and RFP thoroughly, and that you may not be as focused on abiding by grant rules as they would like.
Furthermore, ignoring the RFP often means you fail to respond to the funder’s unique scoring criteria, which is likely to result in your application scoring fewer points than needed to win a grant award. It is CRITICAL the grant RFP to which you are responding is followed exactly. Your narrative should be laid out exactly as the RFP suggests to maximize potential points by ensuring reviewers know exactly where and how you attempted to respond to each of the scoring criteria.
