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Florida Girls
Collaborative Project Newsletter
Advancing
the Agenda in Gender Equity for Science, Technology, Engineering, and
Mathematics.
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Girl Scouts of West Central Florida is the lead agency for
the Florida Girls Collaborative Project. GSWCF serves 8
counties, 30,000 girls and 10,000 adults. Girl Scouts introduces
girls of every age to science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM)
with activities that are relevant to everyday life. Whether they're
discovering how a car's engine runs, becoming math whizzes, or learning
about careers in STEM fields, girls are moving forward into the
future.
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Invent Now Kids | |
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Invent Now Kids (INK) is a nonprofit
organization that partners with over 1,000 schools and organizations
nationwide to provide quality, out-of-school-time elementary enrichment
programs with a science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM)
focus. Endorsed by the United States Patent and Trademark
Office, INK
programs expose young learners to skills such as leadership, teamwork,
acceptance of ideas, decision-making, risk-taking, and adaptability.
As a leader in innovative education for 20 years, INK programs
have provided children with the opportunity to learn, invent, and use
21st century skills such problem-solving through hands-on activities
disguised as fun. Its Camp Invention summer program and Club
Invention out-of-school-time program models are easy to implement by the
host site's educators. These turnkey programs provide all
curricula, materials, step-by-step instructions, teacher training and
compensation, and promotional support.
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Mini-Grant Applications Now Being Accepted | |
What is a
mini-grant?
Incentive money (up to
$1000) for girl-serving organizations to work collaboratively to provide
STEM programming.
What are the
essential elements to apply? Mini-grants are not designed to supplement
ongoing projects, but to enhance access, services, and to build
collaboration between programs and resources.
·At least two programs each from a different
organization must collaborate on the mini-grant project.
·All
programs collaborating on the mini-grant must be registered in the
Program Directory.
·Projects proposed must include content from the
Research Based Strategies in informal learning or evaluation and
assessment.
Does my collaborating partner need to be:
In my state?
No.
As long as all programs or organizations involved in a
collaborative project are registered in the NGCP Program Directory,
collaborating partners can be located anywhere in the United States.
A new collaboration for my program? Or does the project
need to be a completely new project or idea? No.
However, NGCP mini-grants cannot be used as sustaining
funds for existing programs. If you plan to apply for a mini-grant
with a partner with whom you already collaborate, you must use
mini-grant funds to enhance or improve the project. For example,
perhaps you identify and integrate new evaluation practices or you bring
in a third partner who works with girls in a population you would like
to target.
What do you mean by research-based strategies?
Research-based
strategies refer to strategies, practices, curricula and resources that
have research and/or evaluation data to support their effectiveness.
One of the goals of NGCP is to strengthen the capacity of existing and
evolving girl-serving STEM organizations by disseminating research-based
strategies in informal learning and evaluation and assessment. The NGCP
Web site contains a variety of resources to help mini-grant applicants
incorporate research-based strategies into their projects.
Can
I still apply for a Mini-grant if my program currently doesn't do much
evaluation? Yes.
NGCP mini-grants exist to build the
capacity of girl-serving STEM programs to incorporate sound evaluation
practices in their program activities. If your program currently
does not conduct evaluation of program efforts, you can use some of the
mini-grant funds to identify and incorporate evaluation tools into your
efforts.
How soon do I get the money?
Decisions
for funding will be made by August 20, 2010. Funding should
be available within 30-90 days from the decision date.
What are allowable uses for mini-grant funds?
Generally,
NGCP mini-grant funds will be allowed for:
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Food (refreshments for meetings, lunches for participants, etc.)
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Transportation costs (buses)
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Educational software
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Hardware related to educational activities (robotics kits, etc.)
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Essential project/activity supplies
Uses of mini-grant
funds that are not allowable include, but are not limited to, the
following:
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Alcoholic beverages
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Indirect charges/administrative overhead
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Capital expenditures
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Computer hardware (servers, desktops, laptops, etc.)
The
following webcast has been archived with helpful information on how to
apply:
Mini-grants are designed to support collaboration,
assessment activities, and projects related to addressing gaps and
overlaps in service, and sharing promising practices. Mark Thielmann
from Girls Inc.-Pinellas and Maile Martinez from Reel Grrls will share
inspiring stories and outline strategies for successful partnership and
program development. Mini-grant application basics and requirements will
be presented. Since 2002, the NGCP has awarded over 100 mini-grants to
organizations in California, Kansas, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri,
Oregon, Texas, Washington, North Carolina, Florida, Kentucky, and
Wisconsin that support girl-serving science, technology, engineering,
and mathematics (STEM) focused programs.
To access archived
webcasts:
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Virtual Networking |
 Do you wish you could
connect more often others doing similar work? Do
you ever find yourself saying " I don't want to have to reinvent
the wheel again?" The Florida Girls Collaborative Project is
here to help professionals connect and share resources, as well as
promising practices.
We are
currently exploring options for events in addition to the great
local forums, statewide annual conferences, and national monthly
webinars.
Do you have
access within your organization to utilize Skype or Video
Conferencing? Would be interested a virtual event?
Do you have
other ideas/trainings you would like to suggest?
Are you
interested in hosting a forum in your local area?
We are
listening! Please e-mail afoster@gswcf.org with
feedback and input to inform our planning for a great Fall 2010 and
Spring 2011!
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The Florida Girls Collaborative Project is a collaborative effort
funded through the National Girls Collaborative Project and the National
Science Foundation. Partners of the National Girls Collaborative
Project are featured above. Agencies involved in the leadeship of
the Florida Collaborative include Girl Scouts of West Central Florida,
Girls Inc. of Pinellas, University of Central Florida and the Women's
Research Center, AAUW, and Girl Scouts of Apalachee Bend. To learn
more about the National Girls Collaborative Project or to contact one
of the above agencies click here. |
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