Grant Purpose and Amounts

The California Community Foundation (CCF) awards FEDCO Teacher Grants each year to fund hands-on, classroom projects or field trips that help bring learning to life. Grants range from $500 to $1,000 and support teachers of students in grades kindergarten through 12 in Cerritos, Culver City, Norwalk-La Mirada, Pasadena and Los Angeles Unified school districts.

Eligibility

• You must teach K-12 full time at a public school in one of these school districts: LAUSD, ABC/Cerritos, Culver City, Norwalk-La Mirada or Pasadena Unified.

• Your project should be connected to core curriculum standards and include all students in your class.

• Your project should include engaging and creative experiential learning activities, such as a museum visit and/or hands-on art or science projects.

• Your project should increase student academic achievement in one of four areas: language arts, math, science or social studies.

• Your project may include a final group project produced by your students.

• We will give high priority to projects that incorporate experiential learning that are linked to class curriculum or integrate community-related topics.

Sample Projects

We encourage teachers to be innovative and develop projects that suit their students’ learning needs and interests. A few sample projects include:

• A $500 request to engage 5th grade students in the study of the environment, conservation and various ways animals adapt to their biomes through field trips to the West Basic Water Recycling Plant, Roundhouse Marine Lab & Aquarium and Redondo Beach. Students will develop research books as a follow-up activity.

• A $1,000 request from two 11th grade teachers to deepen student knowledge of World War II history and tolerance issues by integrating U.S. history, American literature and the arts. Students will visit the Museum of Tolerance, the Japanese American National Museum, Go for Broke monument, meet a Holocaust survivor, engage in discussions about diversity and write about lessons learned from past wars.

Example of a previous FEDCO teacher grant: Kindergarten students from Ellen Ochoa Learning Center planted bean seeds to see how fast they would grow under different amounts of light.

Important Facts

• CCF will accept applications from August 10 through Oct. 16, 2009.

• A total of $219,000 in teacher grants is available for 2009-2010.

• If you are applying alone, your grant request must range between $500 to $1,000.

• Multiple teachers at one school may collaborate and submit a joint application to request up to $2,000. Joint applications should be from a team of teachers instructing a similar grade level or subject area at the same school.

• You may use grant funds for expenses specific to the project, such as transportation, pre- or post-field trip materials, or the creation of final student projects.

• You may not use grant funds for computer hardware, salaries, substitute teachers, video cameras, third-party payments, sectarian purposes or for substituting existing funds that are available to support similar services.

How to Apply

• Review your Eligibility

FEDCO Teacher Grants Outside Los Angeles County

Please refer to the following organizations to review the eligibility guidelines and deadlines for Orange, San Diego and San Bernardino counties:

Orange County Community Foundation
Applications are available in September

San Diego Foundation
Applications are due in May

California State Polytechnic University, Pomona
Applications are available in September.

If you have any questions or need additional information not provided on our Web site, contact the FEDCO Charitable Foundation hotline at (213) 452-6206.

Background

The FEDCO Charitable Foundation was created when the FEDCO chain of stores closed in 1999. After creditors and employee benefits were paid in full, the remaining assets of more than $7 million were used to establish the FEDCO Charitable Foundation, a supporting organization of the California Community Foundation, whose staff is coordinating the grant distribution process.

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