My Bloggers Get the News First! - 21st CLE Grant Winners

Since you are one of the faithful (and read this blog), you get rewarded by being the first to view the list of awardees for the 21st Century Learning Environment grants! I'll post below the email that will go out later today to all who submitted proposals.  Take a deep breath all you proposal writers, here goes...

Hello,

I am happy to report that there was a very high quality of proposals submitted under Connecticut’s Title IID ARRA 21st Century Learning Environment Competitive Grant Program. There were many wonderful, innovative projects proposed, and for this reason, additional money (beyond the $1.4 million originally anticipated) has been approved for use in the program. This will allow us to fund many more proposals than we had originally anticipated.

Based on the proposals received and a rigorous review process, the following 14 proposals were the highest scoring, and will receive full funding for their proposed projects under the Title IID ARRA 21st Century Learning Environments Competitive grant program (listed in alphabetical order):

• ACES (Wintergreen Magnet School)
• Bridge Academy Charter School
• CES (Six-to-Six Magnet School in Bridgeport, Woodbridge Public Schools)
• Common Ground Charter School
• East Haven Public Schools
• Education Connection (Consortia with Wilbur Cross High School, New Haven)
• Hamden Public Schools
• Meriden Public Schools
• New Haven Public Schools
• Norwich Public Schools
• Oxford Public Schools
• Torrington Public Schools
• Windham Public Schools
• Windsor Public Schools

In addition, pending the submission of a revised proposal, several other districts (the next highest scoring) will be partially funded at the level of $100,000. Listed in alphabetical order, these proposals are:

• Brooklyn Public Schools
• CREC (Charter School for Young Children, Hartford, International Magnet School for Global Citizenship, East Hartford, Reggio Magnet School for the Arts, Avon)
• CT Technical High School System
• EASTCONN (Regional School Districts 8, 11, and 19)
• East Windsor Public Schools
• Killingly Public Schools
• LEARN (Regional Multicultural Magnet School and Dual Language Arts Academy, New London)
• Vernon Public Schools
• Waterford Public Schools

For those receiving a reduced amount – I am asking that you meet with a consultant from your RESC to modify/revise your proposal to accommodate the reduction in funds. Please contact the appropriate person as listed here:

ACES: Barbara Haeffner bhaeffner@aces.org.
CES:: Kevin Klemme klemmek@ces.k12.ct.us
CREC: Doug Casey dcasey@crec.org
EASTCONN: Jane Cook jcook@eastconn.org
EDUCATION CONNECTION: Jonathan Costa jpcostasr@gmail.com
LEARN Verna Sodano-Richards: vsodano@learn.k12.ct.us

I recognize that some of those receiving less than the requested amount may decide that it is not possible to implement their project, even with modifications. If you are one of those and feel it is not possible, please notify me immediately so that I might fund the next eligible proposal.

Whether or not you are among those who will receive funding for your project, I thank you for your time, interest, and thoughtfulness in the creation of your proposal. I am fortunate to work among so many who believe as strongly as I do that technology can significantly improve learning opportunities for our students.

Request for Videos - Get Those Digital Video Cameras Rolling!

The Nellie Mae Education Foundation has just announced a Request for Videos (RFV) that invites schools and organizations to help young people (ages 13-19) to creatively share their insights on how they learn. The Video Challenge is open to public middle and high schools and other education organizations in New England. Organizations submitting the top videos will receive a grant award of up to $5000. The deadline for submitting videos is 5:00 p.m. on May 14, 2010.

For more information and to download the RFV and other materials, please visit the Nellie Mae Education Foundation’s website at http://www.nmefdn.org/grantmaking/guidelines.aspx.

Personally, I'm looking forward to seeing what the students create - and I would LOVE to see some of Connecticut's students participate!  If your students decide to participate, please send me a link to their video (win or lose)!

Still Waiting... 21st Century Learning Environments Grant Winners

SORRY! 

I don't have the results to share just yet for the 21st Century Learning Environments grant program... but one of the reasons this is taking so long is that it appears there MAY be additional funds to support MORE proposals.  So, in this case, no news (yet) may be good news!  Keep checking this blog in the next week or so for an update on this grant program.

The White House Wants to Know - What is a 21st Century Education?

The White House Blog's topic this week is "Education in Focus" and on March 2nd the following question was posted:

What does a 21st century education mean to you?

This is an excellent opportunity to share the power of technology in education and the importance of dedicated funding for educational technology and for 21st century learning environments. This is also a chance to describe the importance of programs like Enhancing Education Through Technology (EETT) and/or ATTAIN. You might even consider having students respond to the question and explain what a 21st century education means to them.

Details for responding to the White House on this question are available at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/03/02/white-house-asks-0.  The White House will post some of the best responses and are taking comments on FaceBook, Twitter and Linkedin. I hope that Connecticut will make itself heard in Washington!