Since 1988, Junior League of Chattanooga has awarded more than $400,000 in the form of hundreds of mini-grants to Hamilton County public school teachers. From art supplies and math materials to digital libraries and aquaponics gardens, these grants fund classroom projects that aren’t in the school system’s budget.
Tiffany Merritt, who will chair Junior League’s mini-grants committee for the coming academic year, said some of these projects would otherwise be out-of-pocket expenses for teachers who were determined to make them happen.
“You can feel their passion for their students when you read the teachers’ applications,” she said. “They are eager to provide these kids with engaging and meaningful learning opportunities, and they’ll do whatever it takes. We are delighted to help facilitate this kind of learning.”
For the 2016-2017 school year, Junior League funded 34 projects in 29 different Hamilton County Schools with contributions totaling $21,799. Funds for these mini-grants came from Hamico Foundation, through Lincoln Motor Company’s Driven to Give program, which was supported locally by Mountain View Ford/Lincoln, and from personal contributions made by community members.
"Junior League has actively sought new partners who value public education and want to support it through this program," said Leah McDaniel, current mini-grants committee chair. “There are many organizations who support public education in Chattanooga but don’t have the time to manage their own application, award, and reporting process, which can be very time consuming."
Ms. McDaniel said Hamilton County Department of Education worked closely with Junior League this year to digitize that process using Google Classroom, a free resource used by all HCDE schools.
"Junior League grants provide valuable learning opportunities for students and for teachers as well,” noted Mike Ballard, training and development specialist for Hamilton County Department of Education. “These are often the first grant applications many teachers write, and they can lead to much larger funding opportunities for Hamilton County students down the road.”
Junior League mini-grant applications are open to any K-12 teacher in the Hamilton County public school system. The form, which must be submitted by Friday, Sept. 1, is now available online at www.jlchatt.org/mini-grants.