Educator Grants

The Lawton Public School Foundation Educator Grants program provides grant funding opportunities for certified staff of Lawton Public Schools. The program is intended to support educators who have creative and innovative ideas for their students but whose schools lack the funding needed to carry out those ideas. The Foundation describes its funding objective as supporting projects that engage students, enhance their educational experience, and motivate, inspire, and enrich students while also supporting teachers. Applications may originate from an individual certified staff member or from a collaborative effort involving eligible Lawton Public Schools certified staff. The program focuses on educational ideas that provide engaging and enhanced experiences for students. The supplied information does not identify specific allowable expense categories, prohibited expenses, project duration requirements, or restrictions on the types of goods or services that grant funds may purchase. It also does not state a minimum or maximum grant award, total program funding amount, or number of awards expected to be made. Although post-award reporting requirements distinguish recipients receiving $500-$1,000 from those receiving $1,001 or more, these amounts describe reporting thresholds rather than stated minimum or maximum award amounts. No matching contribution, cost share, or other applicant financial contribution is stated. Eligibility is expressly limited to Lawton Public Schools certified staff. Eligible applications may be submitted by an individual or may represent a collaborative effort. The source does not state that outside nonprofit organizations, businesses, other school districts, governmental entities, higher education institutions, or members of the general public may apply. The geographic scope is therefore tied to Lawton Public Schools rather than being a statewide or nationwide opportunity. Applicants are encouraged to propose creative and innovative ideas that engage their students and enhance their educational experience where existing school funding is unavailable. The application period for the current academic year runs from September 1 through September 30 and is described as an online grant application period. The supplied material also references a Sample Grant Application with two pages, but the actual questions or fields contained on those pages are not included in the provided text. No letter of intent, concept paper, pre-proposal, or other pre-application gating requirement is stated. No application email address, named application portal, required attachments, budget form, narrative length, or other submission component is identified in the supplied material. Each submitted grant is evaluated by members of the LPS Foundation Grant Committee, which is comprised of Pillar members. The committee determines which grants will receive funding through a scoring system. The specific scoring criteria, weighting, or point values are not provided. The Foundation states that funding is limited and therefore not all submitted grants will be funded. Applicants whose grants are not selected may contact the Foundation if they would like additional information about the decision. The online application period opens September 1 and closes September 30. Grants are to be approved and funding announced no later than December 1. Post-award documentation is due no later than March 31. Recipients receiving $500-$1,000 must submit photos with a description, while recipients receiving $1,001 or more must submit a one-minute video, which may be recorded on a phone. The supplied information does not specify a project start date, project completion date, or other performance period. The Foundation's listed office is at 4005 West Gore Boulevard, Lawton, Oklahoma 73505-6335, inside Liberty National Bank, and its mailing address is P.O. Box 2323, Lawton, Oklahoma 73502-2323. The listed telephone number is (580) 585-6251; no individual program contact or email address is provided.

Emphasize a creative and innovative idea that engages students and enhances their educational experience. Show how the project will motivate, inspire, and enrich students. Account for the Grant Committee's scoring-based review and limited available funding.