Extra Yard for Teachers, thanks to a generous grant from the Helios Education Foundation, is thrilled to announce three programs and grant opportunities for public school teachers and school counselors in Hillsborough, Pinellas and Pasco counties! The goal of these grants is to strengthen a college-going culture in Tampa Bay—especially for low-income students and their families—so that more Tampa Bay students enroll in college or career school and complete a degree or vocational credential. This opportunity is presented in partnership with Florida College Access Network, the Tampa Bay Sports Commission and the College Football Playoff Foundation.
TAMPA BAY COLLEGE APPLICATION WEEK
What: Tampa Bay College Application Week, which is part of the Apply Yourself Florida campaign, aspires to position every graduating senior to complete at least one postsecondary application.
How: Hold an event at your high school to assist seniors with the application process, and devote a week to activities that inspire all students to plan for their educational futures. Florida CAN provides tools, guides, training and technical assistance.
Grant: DonorsChoose.org gift codes of up to $500—and college banner kits for participating schools!
TAMPA BAY FAFSA CHALLENGE
What: This challenge aims to boost the number of Tampa Bay seniors completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), which helps students qualify for financial aid like Pell grants to pay for their college expenses.
How: Coordinate activities to boost your high school’s FAFSA completion rates by at least 5% compared to the last year. Florida CAN provides a dashboard to track FAFSA completion rates, tips and tools as well as technical assistance.
Grant: DonorsChoose.org gift codes of up to $500—and trophies for FAFSA Challenge winners!
COLLEGE CULTURE CLASSROOM GRANT
What: A competitive grant for K-12 teachers to build a college-going culture in their classrooms, through projects submitted through DonorsChoose.org.
How: K-12 teachers create projects that build a college-going culture in their classrooms. Sample activities might include career exploration, college campus visits, applied learning activities—you are limited only by your imagination!
Grant: Full funding for winning projects!
Application Deadline: November 1, 2016
For application information: http://bit.ly/CollegeReadyTampaBay
Please check your school district’s grant guidelines here: http://bit.ly/DistrictGuidelines
Access a list of frequently asked questions about the College Ready Tampa Bay here: http://bit.ly/FAQCollegeReadyTPA
Questions? Email crtb@floridacollegeaccess.org
A printable, easy-to-share one-pager of the College Ready Tampa Bay grant opportunities can be found here.
Note (10/3/16): This post has been updated to reflect the new application deadline of November 1, 2016 for all three College Ready Tampa Bay grant opportunities.
Note (10/11/16): This post has been updated to include a link to a list of frequently asked questions about the College Ready Tampa Bay.