Page 1 of 9 SPRINT AHEAD for EDUCATION GRANT PROGRAM APPLICANT/PRIMARY CONTACT INFORMATION Note: 1) We HIGHLY recommend that applicants DO NOT start an application and use the "Save and Finish Later" button. Applicants are HIGHLY encouraged to write and save the application in its entirety in a Word document before entering (via cut & paste) the data into the active website. A printable version of the application can be downloaded from the website for reference. When prompted, at the completion of your application, you must to create an account with your email and password so that you can verify the status of your application (Pending or Submitted). In order for your application to be reviewed, your application status must be "Submitted". If you choose to "Save and Submit Later" use the following URL to access your saved proposal: http://www.grantrequest.com/sid_284/default.asp?sa=am&pd=al. 2) Do not use specific staff, school names or other identifying characteristics in any of the following boxes. Example; "the students in my school will..." vs. "the students at Eastside Middle School will..." Project Terms & Conditions (Select YES - to agree to the terms and Conditions or NO - if you do not agree to accept the terms and conditions). If you do not agree to the terms and conditions, your application will not be considered. Entry Conditions. Teachers, administrator or academic support staff person ("Entrant") in a public school or public school district may only submit one grant application. Entry: All entries must be received on-line within the specified timeframe to be eligible. Facsimile entries are not acceptable. Enter online at www.sprint.com/citizenship/education/sprintahead and follow the instructions on the screen, completing the online entry form and clicking "enter" to be eligible. On-line entries made by Internet will be declared made by the authorized account holder of the e-mail address submitted at time of entry. "Authorized account holder" is defined as the natural person who is assigned to an e-mail address by an Internet access provider, online service provider or other organization (e.g., business, educational, institution, etc.) responsible for assigning e-mail addresses for the domain associated with the submitted e-mail address. Sprint is not responsible for late, lost, misdirected, mis-delivered, incomplete, incorrect, inaccurate or unintelligible entries, messages, typographical errors, unavailable network connections, failed, incomplete, garbled, or delayed computer transmissions, on-line failures, hardware, software, servers, providers, equipment, human error or other technical malfunctions or disturbances or any other communications failures or circumstances affecting, disrupting or corrupting the program in any manner including without limitation. Sprint also is not responsible for any damages to entrant's computer occasioned by participation in the Program or downloading any information or data necessary to participate. If for any reason the Sponsor is not capable of running the Program as planned due to, among other factors, any technical failure or corruptions of any kind, the Sponsor reserves the right to cancel, modify or suspend the Program and select winners from eligible entries received prior to cancellation. All completed entries become the property of Sprint and will not be returned. Entries without all of the blanks completed will be disqualified and not entered as a grant request. All late, lost, or incomplete entries are not considered valid entries. Any form of entry, other than as specified in these terms and conditions is prohibited and they will disqualified. Sponsor will be collecting personal data about participants when they register and enter the program. Please review Sprint's privacy policy at www.sprint.com/privacypolicy. By participating in the program, entrants agree to all of the terms and conditions of the privacy policies of the Sponsor. By entering you agree to be bound by these terms and conditions and the decisions of the Sponsor which will be final and binding in all respects. The terms and conditions are available at the program website. Selection and Notification. The school district where the "entrant" is employed will be notified by mail of the grant. Final decision of ownership assets purchased with funds from the Sprint Ahead for Education Program resides with the individual School Districts where the applicant is employed at the time of receiving the grant. Grant Acceptance. Acceptance of the grant by the entrant and school district will constitute permission to use entrant's name, school, school district, hometown, likeness, photograph, statements or grant information for advertising and publicity purposes worldwide without limitation and without additional compensation, except where prohibited. Sponsor, their parent companies, affiliates, subsidiaries, advertising and promotion agencies and their respective directors, officers, employees, representatives and agents will not be responsible any and all liability for any injury, loss or damage of any kind to or of any person or property (including death of any person), arising in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, from acceptance, possession, use or misuse of a grant, participation in any program related activity, or participation in this program. This program is void where prohibited or restricted. Governing Law. Program will be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Kansas. All federal, state and local laws and regulations apply. Grant Recipients: Entrants selected will be available on the www.sprint.com/citizenship/education/sprintahead website. Request Date Please enter today's date April 7, 2008 Program Request Type Please select "SAE" SAE Applicant/Primary Contact First Name Kim Applicant/Primary Contact Last Name Williams
Page 2 of 9 Applicant/Primary Contact Summer Phone No. (Best number to contact you between 8 am - 5 pm) 561-494-1540 Applicant/Primary Contact Summer Email Address williamsk@palmbeach.k12.fl.us Applicant/Primary Contact Summer Address Prevention Center School District of Palm Beach County 3330 Forest Hill Blvd. Applicant/Primary Contact Summer City West Palm Beach Applicant/Primary Contact Summer State Florida Applicant/Primary Contact Summer Zip 33406 SCHOOL INFORMATION - Please provide the following information for the School or School District that your grant will support. School/School District Name School District of Palm Beach County School/School District Address 3330 Forest Hill Blvd. School/School District City West Palm Beach School/School District State FL School/School District Zip Code 33406 School/School District Phone No. 561-434-8000 School/School District Free Lunch Percentage (Enter numbers only; do not enter the "%" sign) 51 elementary free and reduced lunch 43 middle schools 30 high School/School District County School District of Palm Beach County
Page 3 of 9 School District - Provide the exact name of the school district. School Board of Palm Beach County School Principal/Superintendent First Name Arthur School Principal/Superintendent Last Name Johnson School Principal/Superintendent Email beninati@palmbeach.k12.fl.us SCHOOL PRINCIPAL/SUPERINTENDENT & DISTRICT INFORMATION - Please complete all fields, even if you are only applying for an individual school grant. District Central Office Address 3330 Forest Hill Blvd. District Central Office City West Palm Beach District Central Office State Florida District Central Office Zip Code 33406 District Central Office Phone No. 561-434-8000 PROJECT INFORMATION Grant Amount Requested Indicate grant amount (Maximum grant award for individual school is $5,000 and the maximum for School District is $25,000 in the following format - For $5000.00 enter 5000, For $25000.00 enter 25000) $25,000 Project Title Palm Beach County Student Characterships Project Goal (750 word maximum) State the intended goals of the project. Describe what you are going to do and briefly summarize how you plan to achieve your stated goals. What is the need in the school and or school district that this project addresses? How will that need be addressed by your project? What are the anticipated results? Based on what research or experience do you think this approach will be successful. 1) Middle school participation in character education initiatives and programs will increase 2) Middle school participation in character education incentive programs will increase 3) Participating students knowledge of the character pillars and their definitions will increase 4) Teacher school climate survey results will improve
Page 4 of 9 5) Parent school climate survey results will improve The Prevention Center in the Department of Safe Schools proposes to create a recognition and incentives program, called Palm Beach County Student Characterships, for middle school students who demonstrate each of the six character pillars adopted by the School District of Palm Beach County: trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, caring, fairness, and citizenship. The Prevention Center will achieve these goals by providing: 1) Train the Trainer workshop for school character contacts, Assistant Principals and/or teaching staff from each of the 33 middle schools to explore effective character education strategies, the positive effect of character education on academic achievement, the Characterships project, and how to market and promote participation; they will receive materials to share at their schools. 2) The Characterships incentive program will be developed with input from students, teachers, character contacts, and community representatives, and will include suggested activities that students may do to demonstrate each of the pillars. 3) With parental permission, students will register to receive the award and will create portfolios that document their demonstration of each pillar through reflection activities and multimedia presentations. 4) Schools will select and recognize their award winning students. 5) The District will host an event to recognize the top three honorees from each school along with their counselors, teachers, parents, and principals. The students will receive a monetary reward. The event will be well publicized. The need for the program is evident. Middle schools are the least likely to participate in the existing character incentives offered to all school levels by the local newspaper, the Sun-Sentinel, and the least likely to participate in any character education programs: 47% participation in character education compared to 68% for elementary schools and 57% for high schools. Only 38% participate in the incentive program for all school levels compared to 44% for elementary schools and 48% for high schools. 05/06 06/07 06/07 Character Education Participation Incentive Program Participation Character Education Participation Elementary 78 / 75% 46 / 44% 71 / 68% Middle 16 / 50% 12 / 38% 15/ 47% High 10 / 44% 11 / 48% 13 / 57% Discipline incidents that reflect a lack of character are high. For example, last year there were almost 16 incidents of fighting per 1000 students, which was an increase from the year before; there were two (2) incidents of threat/intimidation per 1000 students. Alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use incidents ranged from 0.60 per 1000 (alcohol) to 1.67 (tobacco) incidents per 1000. School climate is surveyed in the District. All teachers complete a School Effectiveness Survey every year. Parents and students complete it alternating years. Results decrease between elementary and middle schools, as noted below. For students, results on the Positive School Climate scale decrease from 3.9 in elementary to 3.1; for teachers the scores decrease from 4.1 to 3.7 on a scale of 1-5. For parents, the results decline from 4.3 in elementary to 3.9 in middle schools. This project will address the need by increasing available character education programming; increasing teacher, staff and student knowledge about character education and the opportunities available; and increasing recognition for students as well as requiring that they document how they have demonstrated the traits. We believe the project will work based on both research and experience. The proposed program meets several requirements outlined by Berkowitz and Biers (2004) for effective character education: fidelity of implementation, student bonding to school, principal support, student bonding with teachers, elements of
Page 5 of 9 primary prevention, and staff development. Furthermore, the project includes strategies outlined in What Works in Character Education, namely: Modeling / Mentoring, Family/Community Participation, Community Service/Service Learning, and Professional Development ((2005). Parent involvement, student reflection, and use of adults as role models are also important components of the project and effective character education. Our experience with incentive programs indicates that monetary awards generate interest. Brown Ribbon (anti-tobacco campaign) and Red Ribbon (anti-drug use campaign) contests include participation by middle school students. A community sponsored national program called Do the Write Thing, an essay writing program related to how to combat youth violence, has generated very high participation from middle school students: winners receive a significant award. Project Plan (2500 word maximum) Describe in detail the plan to complete the project ensuring the following questions are addressed: How are you going to implement your project and reach your goal? How will your project enhance your existing school curriculum and/or district improvement plan? What tools/resources will be needed to execute your project? What is the project timeline? The Prevention Center will create an incentive program, Palm Beach County Student Characterships, for middle school students to be recognized for demonstrating character. Students will document in a portfolio, through written reflection, multi-media presentation and other creative ways, how they have applied the six character pillars (trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, caring, fairness, and citizenship) during the school year. Definitions and examples for each pillar, as well as the expectations for the portfolio, will be established. The District Character Education Committee and focus groups of students will help in the planning process. School character contacts, Assistant Principals and/or teaching staff from each middle school will attend a Characterships Train the Trainers workshop. Participants will be expected to go back to their schools to promote and educate staff, students, and parents about the project to encourage student participation. Effective character education strategies, the positive effect of character education on academic achievement, a Characterships marketing campaign, materials, and suggested approaches will be provided. Students will sign up with the character contact at their school to apply for the recognition, with parental permission. They will create a portfolio, checked regularly by the character contact, to show how they demonstrate the character pillars. Schools will be encouraged and supported to recognize all participants at their schools. The District s TV station, TEN (The Education Network), will assist the project by creating middle school PSA s advertising the Student Characterships. The PSA s will be broadcast over the closed-circuit TV network to reach the middle school students. The parents will view the PSA s over the partnering cable channel. The winners will be showcased on TEN. The consultant will organize the entries and, with representation from the District Character Education Committee, will review and judge the program s winning entries. A special award recognition event will be conducted. The project will enhance the existing character education programs at the schools, and will support teachers, school staff, and students to embrace the six pillars of character and implement character education school wide, thereby improving climate. Student understanding of the six pillars of character will increase with the development of their Characterships portfolio that must document how they demonstrated each pillar. The School Board of Palm Beach County is committed to excellence in education and preparation of all our students with the knowledge, skills and ethics required for responsible citizenship and productive employment. This is the mission of the District. The District Improvement Plan is spelled out in the
Page 6 of 9 Academic Business Plan 2007-2008, which states: The Academic Business Plan is a comprehensive plan to ensure that all students receive the highest quality education. The plan establishes a framework for accountability and continuous improvement for the District. The plan provides clear direction and focus to improve student achievement for all students regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, socio-economic status, or disability. The plan contains the School Board Mission and Goals that set the vision for what we will achieve, and Key Results with Performance Goals that define how we will measure progress toward those goals. This project will enhance the existing District Improvement Plan by addressing the third goal: School safety and environment - Provide safe and nurturing school environments that are free of drugs, alcohol, firearms, and harassment, and where standards of appropriate and ethical behavior are upheld. This project provides information and encouragement to teachers and other school staff to participate in character education and provides direction, suggestions, support and incentives for students to demonstrate character and ethical behavior. The tools/resources needed for the project are: 1) Consultant to organize, plan, conduct, and promote the project 2) Marketing materials (posters, supplies, certificates, awards, 3) Use of Internet resources to create on-line surveys and portfolio applications Note: The District has an infrastructure for supporting character education efforts that will support the Characterships project. These include, but are not limited to: the District Character Education Coordinator who manages all character education activities; the existing District Character Education committee, which is attended by up to 65 school and community representatives; monthly newsletters; and a designated character contact at each school. Furthermore, there is a comprehensive on-line character education course called Restoring School Civility hosted by Dr. Philip Vincent, author of the book of the same name. The goal of this course is to have participants gain an understanding of the Florida legislature regarding character education, embrace the six pillars of character adopted by the School District of Palm Beach County, and to apply lessons learned in their daily school life. Teacher recertification points are awarded for course completion. Project Timeline July 2008 Interview and hire consultant to implement and manage the Palm Beach County Student Characterships Awards Program. Begin development of Student Characterships Awards pre/post surveys, background information, and marketing materials. Portfolio information and applications will be developed for on-line access. August-Sept. 2008 August 2008 September 2008 Conduct student focus groups to assist in the development of suggested items and activities for each character pillar in the portfolios. Conduct a Train the Trainer workshop for school character contacts, Assistant Principals and/or teaching staff from each middle school to inform schools about the Student Characterships Awards Program requirements, benefits, and follow-up. Finalize pre-post surveys and lesson plans. Pilot on-line lessons to one school to ensure ease of access, requirements, etc. Support the trained trainers as they present the project to their schools.
Page 7 of 9 October 2008 Provide all Characterships Awards materials and information to all 33 middle schools. Students begin registering to apply for the Award, complete pre-test, and choose first character trait lesson. October 2008- Students work on their character related activities and maintain their portfolios, which will be reviewed by the school April 2009 character contacts and then submitted to the consultant, who will review them for completeness. Student portfolios will be kept for the Awards Committee when they meet in May to determine the winners. Consultant will be available to all middle schools to answer program questions, ensure compliance in all areas, distribute materials and support students in the development of their character portfolios. Consultant will design and develop a Student Characterships Awards Program to be held in May. May 2009 Early in May, the consultant will schedule and hold a meeting to review and determine winners based on the program criteria. Judges will include Prevention Center staff, school based staff and community members. Winners will be announced by mid-month and invited to attend the Palm Beach County Student Characterships Awards Celebration. Monetary awards and certificates will be given at that time. June 2009 Consultant will collect post test survey results, School Effectiveness Survey results, student reflection materials, etc. and create a Results Report to submit to the Sprint Ahead for Education Grant Program by July 1, 2009. Project Budget (1000 word maximum) Provide all costs related to the project being as detailed as possible. If the total project budget is larger than the requested grant amount, please include where the other funding for this project will come from (i.e., school district matching, other foundation support, etc.) Incentives: Student Characterships Three individual Student Charactership Awards at $350, $100 and $50 each/ $500 total for each school for a total of 33 middle schools. $16,500 Training Conference/Awards Program An Awards Program will be held in May to recognize the winners of the Student Charactership Awards. Parents, school staff and community members will be invited to this celebration. Funds will cover presenter expenses, award certificates, presentation materials and celebration food and drinks. Materials Certificates, posters, paper, office supplies and other materials as needed. $2,500 $2,000 Staff $4,000 Consultant at $20 per hour/200 hours to plan, conduct, promote program. Total $25,000.00 Please enter the number of school(s) that will be impacted by this grant. 33 middle schools
Page 8 of 9 Please enter the number of student(s) that will be impacted by this grant. 38,439 Assessment and Measurable Results (500 word maximum) Please specify how you will measure and track you results, i.e. surveys, test scores, attendance numbers etc. How will you track your results to know if you've made progress since the beginning of the project? Include how much change is needed for the project to be considered successful. Examples: test scores will increase by at least 10% or school suspensions will be reduced by 15% after the project's completion. All grant awardees will be required to submit a Sprint Ahead for Education results report within a designated timeframe. More information about the results report will be sent out to all grant award winners with the grant award checks. Program results will be measured and tracked using program participation records; pre and post test surveys of students to measure knowledge of the character traits; student written reflection reports to qualitatively examine their experience; and School Effectiveness Questionnaire (SEQ) comparisons (teachers are assessed annually; parents and students switch years). To be considered successful, the following goals will be achieved: 1. Middle school participation in character education initiatives and programs will increase 10% from 47% to 57%. 2. Middle school participation in character education incentive programs will increase from 38% to 50%. 3. Students knowledge of the character pillars and their definitions will increase from the baseline of the pre-surveys to 100%. 4. Teacher SEQ results will improve 5% from 3.7 to 3.89. 5. Parent SEQ results will improve 5% from 3.9 to 4.1. Please note: parent and student results can only be measured every other year; student results would not be assessed again until school year 2008-2009. Project Results Report The applicant must complete and submit the Sprint Ahead for Education Program Results Report, found online at http://www.sprint.com/citizenship/education/sprintahead/ documenting the results of their project by the designated deadline. Failure to provide a completed report within the given timeframe will disqualify the applicant from being able to apply for another Sprint Ahead for Education Program grant. Select YES - to agree to submit the results report or NO - if you do not agree to submit a results report. If you do not agree to submit a results report, your application will not be considered. Yes Principal/Superintendent Grant Application Approval All school grant applications must be approved by the school principal and all district grant applications must be approved by the school district superintendent. Applicant/Primary Contact First Name Please re-enter the First Name of the Applicant/Primary Contact Kim Applicant/Primary Contact Last Name Please re-enter the Last Name of the Applicant/Primary Contact Williams
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