The Education Foundation this year has started offering TAP grants.
TAP stands for Teacher Assistance Program and it offers funding of up to $1,000 for immediate needs teachers may have.
The foundation still awards annual grants to teachers for innovative, creative programs that could possibly be replicated across the district, Executive Director of Development Celeste Potter said.
The funds can be used for expenses, for buses to take an educational trip to the West Texas Food Bank, ukuleles to teach stringed instruments to kids or shelves to hold robotics equipment.
“… The kids came in and showed us how to do robotics. It was lots of fun for us to see it,” said Sirisha Neerukonda, grants committee chair of the Education Foundation Board.
Potter said there is a standard Google form for teachers to fill out.
“It’s pretty simple where they just explain their immediate need and then they’re actually invited to come present their need to a committee. They stand in this room, kind of Shark Tank if you will, and they present their idea,” Potter said.
The teachers are notified immediately about whether they’re funded or not.
“After they are awarded the grants, there’s a standard grant agreement that basically says I’m only going to use the monies for the purpose intended. That’s the only paperwork that’s required,” Potter said.
She added that there was a program like this years ago and it kind of “fizzled out.”
“But after our last grant cycle for the fall of 2023, we were seeing kind of a lower turnout of teacher applications, so we surveyed teachers in the district,” Potter said.
With the traditional grant cycle, teachers were being asked to apply once and think ahead for the next school year.
“A lot of them are so focused on immediate issues that they just weren’t thinking ahead. From that survey, a lot of teachers said … it’d be nice if we could have an opportunity to apply more than once a year … The traditional grants program is looking for innovative, creative programs that could possibly be replicated across the district. They need something more immediate and so we re-birthed, if you will, the teacher Assistance Program. We announced it in January and we’ve already given away four awards,” Potter said.
So far, $2,995.12 in TAP grants have been awarded.
Potter said she sent an email to all staff about the grants and there is a Google form link that they have to complete. So I’ve sent an email out to all staff, and there’s just a simple Google Form link that they have to complete. They can apply for up to $1,000 per semester.
They’ve had about two grant requests a month coming through. After April, they won’t be considering grants again until October.
“… I think just by word of mouth, it’ll pick up …,” Potter said.
She added that it’s been nice to see the teachers’ reaction.
They have awarded four grants. There were two gifted and talented teachers who are taking their fourth-grade students on a field trip to the Food Bank to learn about food insecurity and hunger in the community, but they needed funding for the buses.
The robotics teacher bought students with him. The students demonstrated the robots and the committee got to ask the students questions.
“… That’s always a lot of fun for myself and for the grants committee because it really shows you where you’re making your impact,” Potter said.
Neerukonda noted that it shows students the connections to further education at Odessa College and University of Texas Permian Basin.
Potter said two of the teachers were first-year instructors so it gave the committee a chance to tell them that they loved what they were doing and please consider applying for the traditional grants.
Potter said the foundation would love to have local businesses or individuals to partner with them.
“If they would make a donation directly to the Teacher Assistance Program … those funds will be allocated, again, for this specific program. But when we bring those teachers in here to do the presentations, we would love to have those partners in the room with us so they can start seeing firsthand what the needs of the teachers are and having that personal connection,” Potter said.
If teachers would like to apply for a grant, they can go to the Education Foundation website and look under the grants tab.
“Staff also have access to the link through our SharePoint, which is just like an intranet feature that we use,” she added.
Neerukonda said they encourage teachers to apply.
“It’s been a lot of fun for the committee,” she added.
