Dakota Pawlicki - The Insiders Guide to Winning Education Grants

Cover design by Michael Cook

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Copyright 2014 by Dakota Pawlicki and Chase James. All rights reserved.

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For UNITE members across the nation and the students they teach

Acknowledgments

Urban Needs in Teacher Education (UNITE) is a dynamic nonprofit organization whose membership consists of talented and dedicated pre- and in-service teachers around the United States of America. These educators self-select to continue their professional development on their own time to better teach the students in their classrooms and serve the urban communities in which their schools are situated. This book is a result of the persistent fervor in which UNITE teachers demonstrate in the pursuit of new knowledge and skills. It is our hope as authors that we capture the spirit of UNITE and bring the knowledge of our organization and its members to a wider audience.

Although UNITE is thankful to the many individuals who have seen to its success over the years, we would like to especially thank those by name who have made this book a reality:

This book is made useful by its many exemplars, interactive tutorials, and online content for which we relied heavily on practicing teachers and philanthropic organizations to provide a wide array of coverage across contents and grade levels. These insightful works were provided in part by Carmela Balice, the Chicago Foundation for Education, Donorschoose.org, John Dudley, Katie Lyons, Megan McCoy, Michael Mettenburg, and Rachel Perveiler.

Finally, thank you to the friends, family, and supporters who have made UNITE, this book, and so much more a reality. Without your constant presence, our work would cease to matter.

The Authors

Dakota Pawlicki is president of UNITE (Urban Needs In Teacher Education). The lead author and presenter for UNITE's grant-writing teacher professional development series, Dakota is coauthor of a multimillion-dollar federal Teacher Quality Partnership grant received in 2009. After teaching in Chicago Public Schools, Dakota joined the Chicago Teacher Education Pipeline at Illinois State University, where he currently serves as operations manager, developing and coordinating teacher-preparation programs.

Chase James, executive director of UNITE, has experience writing and editing grant proposals ranging from small classroom projects to multimillion-dollar programs for schools and nonprofit organizations. In addition to his role at UNITE, Chase is an educator in the Chicago Public Schools, teaching social studies at Collins Academy High School in the city's North Lawndale neighborhood.

About UNITE

UNITE (Urban Needs in Teacher Education) is a nonprofit organization aiming to enhance the preparation of teachers in our nation's most underprivileged and underrepresented schools. Since its founding in 2006, UNITE has grown from a small, on-campus group at Illinois State University to a national nonprofit serving thousands of educators annually. UNITE provides professional development for preservice and in-service teachers on topics ranging from classroom management and grant writing to special education and gangs. UNITE works actively with schools, universities, and colleges of education across the nation.

To learn more about the organization or to schedule a UNITE grant-writing workshop at your school or district, visit www.urbanneeds.org .

Foreword

During my first year as a teacher in Chicago, the resources available to me were confined to a tall metal cabinet in a corner of my classroom. The best thing that can be said about that cabinet is that it was full. But the praise ends there. Its shelves were crammed with dusty dittos, outdated textbooks, faded worksheets, and reading passages that bore little relevance to the lives and experiences of my students.

I remember opening the double doors of that cabinet many times and just staring inside, hoping something differentsomething I could actually use to help teach my studentswould magically appear. It never happened.

I pieced together a curriculum the best I could that year, but the lack of resources was a constant challenge. Our school's budget was tighter than tight, and I had almost no knowledge at the time of what assistancefinancial or otherwisemight be available beyond my school's doors.