Grants & Funding | News

6 Schools Win Grants for Digital Learning Projects

• By Kanoe Namahoe
• 01/14/14

The Lightspeed Systems Foundation this month awarded grants to six schools through its Amazing Grants program. The program is designed to fund digital learning projects at K-12 schools in the United States. Each of the winning schools will receive up to $5,000 for their project.

Grand prize winners include:

• William B. Bimat Elementary School, Bakersfield, CA

• Coast Unified School District, Cambria, CA

• Stocker Elementary School, Kenosha, WI

• Frank Elementary School, Kenosha, WI

• North Adams Community Schools, Decatur, IN

• Batesville Community School Corporation, Batesville, IN

William B. Bimat Elementary School plans to use the grant to support its "Local Economy and Commerce" project. The project, which focuses on the local agriculture industry, calls for students to use mobile devices and digital tools to conduct research, take part in webcasts with business leaders and build a classroom commerce center. The final presentations will be shared through Lightspeed's learning management system, My Big Campus.

Coast Unified School District will use the award to fund its Minecraft in Education Digital Learning Project. Through the grant, CUSD will purchase hardware and equipment to host Minecraft in Education events throughout the area. The project will be managed through My Big Campus.

Stocker Elementary School will apply its grant toward iPads and e-books. Students will use the devices to hold discussions about books "across classrooms, grade levels and book clubs," according to a prepared statement. They will also use the tablets to create multimedia presentations.

Frank Elementary School also plans to purchase iPads. The devices will be used for the school's "Field Work Comes Alive" project. Students will use the tablets to record their field work experiences, share their results in the classrooms and create digital portfolios of their findings.

North Adams Community Schools will use the grant to create new digital curriculum for all core subjects. The curriculum will include activities designed to improve student collaboration skills, critical thinking, creativity and written and oral communication.

Batesville Community School Corporation intends to use its award to purchase resources for classrooms and design new curriculum. Teachers will receive stipends for developing the lesson plans at professional development sessions hosted by the school's IT specialists.

Applications for the 2014 grant will be available this spring. To find additional information about the foundation, please visit Lightspeed's web site.