Grants are great! They take big dreams and lots of work! Over the years, I have applied for both local and state-wide grants. I didn’t get them every time I applied, but did succeed several times after lots of hard work.

Summer is a great time to apply for grants as a teacher. Schedules are normally a bit more open, making it a wonderful time to pursue some dreams and wishes!

My favorite grant – The Lilly Endowment Teacher Grant is accepting applications with the deadline of September 1st. I highly recommend Indiana teachers and administrators apply for this grant! Here is the link to the grant for applying online.

I know from experience in any big project, breaking down everything into smaller pieces is the only way to accomplish anything. If not, it’s all too easy to become overwhelmed and quit before getting close to finishing that goal. In the past, I’ve received two Lilly grants. The first grant was to study puppetry in England in 2005. In 2016, I traveled across Japan to various folk and music festivals. Both of those ideas seemed crazy and unobtainable when I started, especially the grant to Japan. So, how did I do it?

1. Research – I did a lot of research, starting with talking to several people who had traveled to or lived in Japan. These were people who could give me first-hand information on what was realistic to try and accomplish while there, as well as the best way to travel. I wasn’t afraid to ask questions or ask for help. We are usually our own worst enemies in talking ourselves out of trying something new because we aren’t qualified, smart enough, and so on!
2. Plan – Once I had my basic idea about my grant, I read a lot about Japan; it’s culture, geography, climate, food, travel, etc. I also got some CD’s from the library to learn basic Japanese phrases, and taught them to my students at school. My students enjoyed being included in preparing for my journey to Japan. It was fun sharing my discovery of songs, food, customs, climate, time difference and much more with my students. We learned that even though Tokyo, Japan is almost 6500 miles from Bedford, Indiana, Japan and Indiana both have a lot in common! We have families, enjoy good food, music, vacations, movies and many other similar interests. Before learning about Japan, the country and people of Japan had seemed like they were from another planet.
3. Technology – Thanks to email, instant message and a host of other technology, I was able to communicate directly with my host families make arrangements for travel, lodging, sight-seeing, and most of my plans for the trip. Thanks to technology, a trip half way around the world is much easier to plan and implement!
4. Persistence – My first three proposals were turned down by Lilly. After trying multiple times and changing a few things in my proposal, I finally got my first grant! Seven years later, I was eligible to try for another grant and fortunately got it! I have encouraged many of my colleagues to try for the Lilly grant. I’m so glad that several in my school corporation have enjoyed receiving a Teacher Creativity grant from Lilly over the years. We are very blessed in the state of Indiana to have a company that believes in teachers and wants teachers to have a chance to broaden their horizons! Thanks to Lilly Endowment, 100 teachers and administrators recharge their creative batteries each year with $12,000 to pursue those dreams and goals!

Apply for a grant. You never know, you might get it.  If you don’t succeed – try, try again!

Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.

-Thomas A. Edison