Teacher-Initiated Grants
TEACHER-INITIATED GRANTS
Fostering the creativity of our teachers helps forward our mission and inspire our students.
Awarded on an annual basis, our teacher-initiated grants encourage Farmington Public School teachers, administrators, and personnel to create programs that engage and excite students, as well as enhance their standard curriculums.
Learn about the criteria for consideration in addition to the review and approval process.
Have an idea? Fill out our simple grant application, and submit your request.
We are proud to have funded the following Teacher-Initiated Grants for the 2019-2020, and 2020-2021 school years.
Bicycle Frame Design and Fabrication Course
Farmington High School - $3,500
Building Scientific Curiosity with Hydro-Plant Systems
East Farms Elementary School - $600
Multipurpose Outdoor Learning Space
Union Elementary School - $6,462
STEM Special Education Structured Learning Program
Irving A. Robbins Middle School - $469
Exploring Benefits of Sensory Play (Sensory Garden)
West District Elementary School - $1,000
A Mindful Space
West Woods Upper Elementary School - $1,500
A Peaceful Place
Union Elementary School - $1,500
Strumming Along - Ukulele Program
Irving A. Robbins Middle School - $2,293
Lessons from the American Revolution
Noah Wallace Elementary School - $1,470
Elementary Band Pre-Teach Program
Noah Wallace Elementary School - $1,400
Water for Ghana
Irving A. Robbins Middle School - $2,293
EDGE Media Lab
Farmington High School - Final installment of $25,000 for a total of $85,000
Some of Our Previous Teacher-Initiated Grants Include...
Interdependence between Plants, Worms, and Soil
Second graders at East Farms received a special introduction to ecology. Rather than just read about soil and plants, this project got students out of the classroom to raise earthworms in an outdoor space. They then grew plants in a hydroponic station in a greenhouse, using the natural fertilizer produced by their worms.
Digital Imagery
Teacher Leslie Flowers at Irving Robbins Middle School saw a need to enhance the experience for students in the digital imagery unit. With a Teacher–Initiated Grant from FPSF, Ms. Flowers was able to provide 10 Pen and Touch Drawing Tablets for students to use in conjunction with Photoshop to create digital art.
With the pen and tablets, students gained meaningful experience with tools that have a wide range of applications in professions involving digital imagery. And because of the success of this project, the school's art department plans to order 10 more pen and tablets to integrate into the art curriculum for years to come.
Students Teaching Students
By all accounts, this project has been a huge success! East Farms teacher Angie Simpson’s second grade class chose topics and strategies they felt they could teach other students, organized their thoughts on posters, and published the poster images as books.
Utilizing a grant from FPSF, hardcover copies of each of the five books were produced for each second grade classroom, and an additional copy of each book was printed for the East Farms library.
Noah Wallace e-News Broadcast
Noah Wallace teachers Jessica Jusseaume and Suzanne Magnee, along with principal Kelly Sanders, proposed this project to provide increased opportunities for students to develop skills in digital technology, innovative design, and information and media literacy. A teacher-Initiated grant from FPSF provided funding for video production equipment, which students use to produce e-News videos and short video segments for the annual Arts Fest.