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Applications open for LIGHT Awards Program – California

The LIGHT Awards Program believes that teachers are motivated, creative, smart individuals who know what they, their schools, and their students need to thrive.

Donor Name: Intrepid Philanthropy Foundation

State: California

County: Selected Counties

Type of Grant: Awards and Prizes

Deadline: 11/12/2024

Size of the Grant: $10,000 to $100,000

Grant Duration: 2 Years

Details:

Groups of teachers are asked to identify high-quality professional development opportunities in which they would like to participate. Those opportunities vary widely from attending trainings and sharing learnings with fellow teachers to co-developing curriculum to establishing after-school clubs. Project possibilities are only limited by the creativity of applicants.

The LIGHT Awards Program supports teachers by making grants for teacher-selected professional learning. Grant award details include:

  • The LIGHT Awards makes grants of $20,000 or $30,000 over two years.
  • Grants are made in payments of $10,000 or $20,000 in the first year, and $10,000 in the second.
  • The grant award must be expended during the two-year grant period.
  • Grants are announced and distributed annually in the late spring to allow for summer planning or attendance at summer training experiences.
  • Grant implementation must start by the beginning of the next school year after which the grant is received.

Brainstorming

Questions to spark your project idea brainstorming:

  • What have I always wanted to learn about and pursue, but never had the funding to do so?
  • What project would interest many of my colleagues?
  • What do my colleagues on the team want to learn most?
  • If I could learn something to enhance my teaching career, what would it be?
  • What could I learn to feel more confident and excited about teaching?

Stipends

Stipends are available in recognition of the hard work of team members:

  • Stipends are not provided as compensation for hours worked.
  • Teams are welcome to include stipends in their budgets as long as the terms of their employment allows for the receipt of stipends.  Principals will need to sign off on the stipends in their support letters.
  • Stipends are limited to a maximum of $1000 per team member per school year during the course of the grant period and can be paid at the end of each of the two school years during the course of the grant period.
  • Stipends must be equally distributed amongst all team members.

Project Examples

  • Train with Experts
  • Create a Learning Community
  • Explore Instructional Strategies
  • Imagine Your Own Innovation.

Eligibility Criteria 

  • Team Members
    • A team is composed of three to six members, with preference given to teams of at least four members.
      • At least three of the team members must be full-time classroom teachers (defined by spending at least 60% of time in the classroom).
      • Specialists, TOSA’s, and/or instructional coaches may be included on a team. There needs to be a minimum of three full-time classroom teachers on the team and an explanation of why the role of the additional member(s) is essential to the success of the project.
      • One paraprofessional is eligible to participate on each team.
      • Teacher’s aides and part-time teachers are not eligible.
      • Administrators may not be team members unless the project cannot happen without their participation.
      • One team member must be identified as the Team Contact; the Team Contact must spend a portion of their time in the classroom.
      • Current LIGHT Award grantees are not eligible.
  • Experience
    • Applicants must be at least in their second year of teaching when submitting the application.
  • Location & Type of School(s)
    • Elementary, middle, high schools and cross-school projects are eligible.
    • Applications from teachers at brand-new schools (in their first year of operation) will not be considered.
    • Team members must teach in traditional public or charter schools OR in private schools that serve a majority (50% or above) free-and-reduced lunch qualifying students. While applications from all schools are encouraged, Intrepid Philanthropy Foundation prioritizes support for under-resourced schools.
    • Eligibility is limited to the following California counties: Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Monterey, Napa, Sacramento, San Benito, San Francisco, San Joaquin, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Solano, Sonoma, and Yolo.
  • Vicinity
    • Team members can be at the same school in the same or varying grades/subjects OR teams members can come from from different districts in the same or varying grades/subjects. In all cases the mix of educators should make sense for the proposed project.
  • Endorsement
    • Project has support from the principal from each participating school. If invited to submit an application, teams will be required to provide a letter from each principal explaining that the principal endorses the project and articulates any support the principal is able to provide, such as providing feedback, fostering leadership within teams, providing release time, and remaining open to the benefits of teacher-driven innovation.

Participation Requirements

The following are requirements of LIGHT Awards grantees:

  • Participation in an annual gathering of awardees.
  • Participation in an alumni network.
  • Submission of annual narrative and financial reporting on project progress, learnings, challenges, and expenditures.

For more information, visit Intrepid Philanthropy Foundation.