Our Grants

The CPS drumline group is the only high school from the United States selected to participate in the 2018 Japanese summer festival in Nagano. During the trip, from Aug. 3-10, the students will have the opportunity to rehearse with 1,000 Japanese marching band students. The trip also includes cultural site visits and a ceremonial meeting with the local governor. The grant covered the costs of passports and provided two cultural experiences, including etiquette lessons, for the students. The Foundation funds also include the creation of a CPSF flag for use during the festival’s opening ceremonies.

Grant Funds Requested: $2,950

Provides entire elementary school buildings the opportunity to learn about and experiment with aeroponic gardens, a gardening system that does not use soil and instead uses a nutrient solution for roots. The CPSF grant provides one garden tower aeroponic system for each elementary school. The towers will be placed in school lobbies, media centers or cafeterias, all spaces where each student in the building gets to experience it.

Grant Funds Requested: $18,270

An initiative of the Ragtag Film Society, the umbrella organization of True/False Film Fest and Ragtag Cinema. The grant provides teachers with media literacy instructional strategies and materials and provides students with skills to be thoughtful, critical consumers of media. The grant funds will supplement Columbia Public Schools (CPS) core curriculum by providing screening rights for films and training for teachers to incorporate film into the classroom. Learning will be enhanced through extracurricular experiences, including year-round field trips to Ragtag Cinema for film screenings and a free film screening and filmmaker Q&A at the True/False Film Fest.

Grant Funds Requested: $114,300* over a three year period

Supports literary initiatives at the middle school level impacting nearly 4,000 students. The selected young adult novels – which include Jason Reynolds’ “As Brave As You” and “Ghost,” and K.A. Holt’s “Rhyme Schemer,” “House Arrest” and “Red Moon Rising” – will be available in novel and audio format at each of the six CPS middle schools. In addition to supplying the novels, the grant provides for in-person author visits from both Reynolds and Holt at each middle school.

Grant Funds Requested: $20,000

Provides funding for MakerSpaces at ten CPS elementary schools. MakerSpaces promote STEM activities and provide a hands-on learning experience where children can flex their creative muscles and problem-solving skills. MakerSpace stations might focus on circuitry, design, electronics, robotics, building, coding, or other STEM skills. Supplies can include 3D printers, software, electronics, craft and hardware supplies and tools, and everyday materials, all with the goal of engaging students with making technology and developing problem-solving skills.

Grant Funds Requested: $25,000

A Fine Arts Collaboration with Special Education and Practical Arts. This project proposes that district coordinators and specific practical arts and fine arts teachers use NAO robots to implement a project-oriented pedagogy characterized by hands-on experimentation. Computer Programming & Music teachers will use NAO to integrate team work, project management, problem-solving and communication skills and “choreography” in a stimulating setting that is engaging and exciting for students. Teachers will also use NAO to develop interdisciplinary projects. Students participating in the program will have the opportunity to focus on problem-solving and exploratory learning by working in teams to actively engage in challenges and discover solutions. Students gain hands-on experience using NAO, and, when used in the lab, they discover exciting topics such as locomotion, grasping, audio and video signal processing, voice recognition, and much more.

This proposal provides a variety of leveled, high-interest books for students to read during weekly school-wide sustained silent reading (SSR) time in their 6th-8th grade Advisory classes. In addition to providing the opportunity for students to actively read for enjoyment and building of background knowledge, the various literacy committees and reading specialists in each middle school building will ensure that these texts are available for read-alouds both during Advisory classes and in content area classes.

This project proposes the funding of FitnessGram software for all K-12 students in Columbia Public Schools. FitnessGram software is a tool for assessing health-related fitness components in grades K-12; gives students a comprehensive look at their fitness level; promotes life-long activity by providing assessment and follow up programming; produces individualized reports for parents; and, allows for self-assessment and goal setting.

The CPS “iRead to Succeed!” grant will provide each CPS Middle School Reading Intervention program with a set of 10 iPad Mini devices that can be used to engage struggling students in the reading of digital texts that have been custom-tailored to their interests and ability level (through online software that creates a personalized reader profile) and to frequently and efficiently evaluate student progress using online assessment tools that provide timely diagnostic information that teachers can use to tailor their intervention instruction to maximize student gains and more effectively combat the achievement gap in literacy.

Grant Funds Requested: $18,240

Testing of CPR skills is required by the state and district and is one of the measurable learner objectives for Health. These kits will be checked out to online health students enabling them to learn and practice skills at home. Skills assessment will be done by the online health teacher or the District Coordinator of Secondary Health. The kits include a DVD and a practice mannequin. Kits can be cleaned and are reused for future classes.

Grant Funds Requested: $1,435