Grant to benefit school programs

Outside funding lets the district develop programs it couldn’t normally afford.

By HAROLD GWIN

VINDICATOR EDUCATION WRITER

YOUNGSTOWN — Innovative classroom projects, after-school enrichment efforts, pupil character building — all programs in the city schools that are being funded by nearly $2 million in outside grant sources.

Karen Green, administrative assistant to the schools superintendent, outlined five programs recently financed by government or private institutions that are now in progress or about to begin, all of them designed to provide additional learning and development opportunities for pupils.

The outside financial assistance “is very important,” Green said, particularly at a time when the school district is struggling financially. It gives teachers a chance to “think outside the box” without worrying about financial constraints.

The grants also pay the salaries of staff hired to implement those new programs, she added.

Youngstown has been under state-declared fiscal emergency since November 2006 and ran a general fund deficit of $15 million last year. Money for innovative educational programming just isn’t available from traditional district revenue sources at this time, school officials said.

But money toward that effort is available from government and other agencies, and the district has made concerted efforts to seek out that assistance.

The largest grant Green outlined is financing a character-building program targeting the district’s middle school pupils.

It’s a four-year program the district launched last fall, and it focuses on various monthly topics worked into the current curriculum as well as some after-school efforts.

Topics range from self-control to kindness, responsibility and respect.

Another large grant will fund after-school programs starting in February at Chaney and East high schools.

That program, linked to Youngstown State University, will focus on academics, Ohio Graduation Test preparation and enrichment activities related to the field of science.

Two community-based groups — the Salvation Army and Center for Community Empowerment at Rockford Village — also will be providing activities under that program, Green said.

Minigrants to finance innovative classroom projects devised by a teacher or small group of teachers is another of the programs funded with outside money, Green said.

Youngstown recently got two grants for that purpose, one focusing primarily on math and science linked to the district’s continuous improvement plan and Ohio’s academic standards. The district already has awarded 16 minigrants under that fund and is looking for other proposals, Green said.

The second will provide grants for innovative programs for any classroom instruction, and proposals are being reviewed now, she said.

The district also received continuing funding for professional development and will use it this year to focus on building teacher and administrative leadership. The district used the grant to finance its “Capturing Kids Hearts” training two years ago and its “Failure Is Not an Option” effort last year.

This year’s focus will be “Balanced Leadership.”

Green said there is another pending grant also tied to Youngstown State University which, along with six other Ohio institutions of higher learning, has applied for $50 million in funding for a four-year effort to encourage high school students to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and math.

YSU’s share of that amount would be about $1.9 million and it would be used to specifically address the math preparedness of students going into college STEM programs. Juniors and seniors in the Youngstown, Girard and Warren school districts would be eligible to participate.

It will be a summer program to prepare for calculus and pre-calculus at the college level.

Students participating in the program will have an opportunity to earn annual scholarships of $4,700 to help meet college expenses, Green added.

gwin@vindy.com