Mini Grant Winners

Each year, NETA is proud to offer mini-grants to our educators. We feel that is is incredibly important to offer resources that exist outside of our spring conference dates and this is one of them! We talked to Julie Hahn from Beadle Middle school, and Sandy Delzell from Norris Elementary School, past grant winners, to share their experiences on how they used their mini-grants. 

Here’s Julie’s Story

Why did you apply for a Virtual Field Trip Mini Grant?  

I applied for the Virtual Field Trip Mini Grant because I was seeking additional funding for High Ability Learner (HAL) experience for my students.  With budgets always tight in school systems, I was very thankful to have received this grant and provided the Operation Montserrat experience for my students!

What did you use your Grant Money for?  

I used the grant money to provide an e-mission experience titled Operation Montserrat for my students.  This is a short description:   e-Mission: Operation Montserrat is based on a real historical event. The volcano on the normally tranquil island of Montserrat has come to life. As flaming pebbles and lava begin their devastation, emergency response student teams learn a hurricane is approaching. Using real-time hurricane and seismic data, teams of student specialists assist Mission Control in saving the residents from certain destruction.  Students are guided through this experience by a scientist that we skype from the the Challenger Learning Center in West Virginia.

What was your favorite part of your grant funded project?  

The favorite part of my grant funded project is seeing the excitement in my students as they work through the mission and “save” the residents on the island of Montserrat.

Why should others apply for a Mini Grant?  

Other teachers should apply for a Mini Grant because the grant can provide additional experiences for students that would not normally be funded by our schools.  I also think teachers should apply because the application was relatively simple to fill out with a quick response as to the grant being awarded.

Here’s Sandy Delzell’s experience.

Why did you apply for a Virtual Field Trip Mini Grant?

I applied for this grant money to help my school defray the cost of the online field classes that we do with the Omaha Zoo.  

What did you use your Grant Money for?

Our Kindergarten department visits with the Omaha Zoo four times during the school year. Our students learn about owls and bats, elephants, penguins, and sharks.  

What was your favorite part of your grant funded project?

I love that our school can take all 200 students to the Omaha Zoo to learn about the different animals. Peter is an amazing teacher who can keep our young students focused and entertained for 30 minutes. They learn so much from him!!  Since these experiences are online, we do not have to travel and lose classroom time to educate our students. This is an amazing experience for our students and we are fortunate that it is a service that is provided to us.

Why should others apply for a Mini Grant?

Applying for a mini grant will allow a teacher, school, or district to provide educational opportunities that they may not be able to afford otherwise. 

We are so grateful for these educators who go above and beyond to make the classroom experience a meaningful and exciting one. To learn more about mini-grant winners click here