Ag Literacy Grant Program |
Minnesota Agriculture in the Classroom (MAITC) is a unique public/private partnership between the MAITC Foundation and the Minnesota Department of Agriculture. Grant funds are provided courtesy of the Foundation based on annual funding provided by Minnesota’s agricultural community. For the 2012-13 school year we have budgeted $7,500 for teacher grants.
Ag Literacy Grant Program Overarching Goal: To provide cash awards to K-12 practicing educators to encourage them to bring agriculture and food systems education “to life” by effectively integrating related content into their classroom or school. Non-formal education applications will also be considered based on strength of application and the availability of funds.
School Year 2012-13 Grant Priorities – Grants up to $400 available!
New applications are strongly encouraged in the areas of youth gardening, unique integration and innovation in the classroom, and field trip experiences. First time applicants will have priority for funding. Field trip experiences might include historical or modern working farms, agriculture industry tours, the MHS sites of Oliver Kelley Historic Farm and FarmAmerica or the Minnesota Zoo Farm, to name a few. We DO NOT pay a student entry fee to any site.
Grant Application Deadlines are October 1, 2012 and February 15, 2013.
All grants will be evaluated by a Grant Review Committee. Please allow a minimum of two weeks following each deadline for review and notification. Your grant project must be completed during the 2012-13 school year. A short-form final project summary must be completed. MAITC reserves the right to deny an application based on quality, content and subsequent student impact, adherence to grant criteria and/or available dollars.
Important Grant Judging Criteria
We’ve tried to provide a rather short and simple application form to encourage more applications. We realize you are busy and don’t have much time to apply for grants. However, it is important that you complete the application with sufficient detail and rigor. Poorly thought out, one paragraph applications will be denied! Please state project objectives/goals clearly, and indicate how the grant will help you achieve them. We encourage reference to one or more of the Minnesota Academic Standards where appropriate. And you must provide a detailed budget. Field trip applications must be linked to broader classroom learning objectives.
Specifically, we encourage you to pursue matching dollars for field trip costs and consider some sort of local dollar match or in-kind support to strengthen your application.
MDA Contact
Al Withers, Program Director
Alan.Withers@state.mn.us
Phone: 651-201-6688 • Fax: 651-201-6117
Minnesota Agriculture in the Classroom |
