PPIE gives out 13 grants for student projects PPIE gives out 13 grants for student projects (December 09, 2005)

$4,540 support a variety of activities
by Rebecca Guyon

Pleasanton Partnerships in Education Foundation just awarded 13 student grants for the fall cycle of the 2005-2006 school year, providing funding for a wide range of activities, including a dress-code appropriate fashion show, a breakfast book club, volleyball uniforms and materials for fundraisers to support schools in India. In total, $4,540 was awarded to student projects.

"We really appreciate PPIE doing the grant program," said Debbie Mintz, a math teacher and advisor to the Astronomy Club at Pleasanton Middle School. Mintz sponsored a grant by eighth grade student Amanda Paull for $500 to buy solar filters for the Astronomy Club's telescope. "Because of PPIE we've gotten all kinds of extra things for the Astronomy Club," she said. Last year, the Astronomy Club was given a PPIE grant to buy filters to look at the moon.

With the solar filters, the club will be able to look at various features on the sun, such as solar flares and sun spots. Being able to look at the sun will also give the club more to look at in the after school hours, Mintz said. Currently, they meet at the school for nighttime stargazing once a month.

"I wrote the grant because I really wanted to feel like I was part of the club, not just sitting in the back watching," said Paull, who has been in the club since seventh grade.

To be considered for the grant, students must submit an application that outlines the goals of the project, how students will benefit from it and a detailed budget. Each project must also be sponsored by a teacher. Based on that information, students are awarded a maximum of $500.

Thirty-one students applied for grants in this cycle, said PPIE Executive Director Debi Covello. That is comparable to last year when PPIE received 33 applications and chose 11 to fund, Covello said. The first cycle in the fall tends to be more popular than the second cycle in the spring. Last year during the spring cycle, PPIE received eight requests and were able to fund all of them, Covello said.

Amador Valley High School senior Todd Andry was awarded a $100 grant to put on a dress-code appropriate fashion show sponsored by the Fashion Club. Andry just moved to Pleasanton this year from L.A., but is already president of the Fashion Club.

"Even though I'm new this year, I've seen a lot of problems with the dress code," he said. "We wanted to show that you can still look hip and cool and be appropriate." The funds granted to the fashion show will go toward supplies to build the runway and advertising for the event, Andry said. Nearly 60 students will take part in the show, either as models or in preparation, and they are charging a small admission fee to raise money for Cinderella's Closet, a charity that provides prom dresses for girls from economically disadvantaged families.

"This is a good event to get people involved with the Fashion Club," Andry said.

Grant applications like Andry's and Paull's are reviewed and awarded by a PPIE committee of community members from the business sector, school district and community at-large. At the end of the school year, once the projects have been completed, students send PPIE a narrative report detailing how the project went and a final expense report. If a student does not spend all of their grant money, the money is sent back to PPIE to go toward next year's grants.

Funding for grants comes from fundraisers during the year and some major donors, such as Oracle, which has supported other PPIE projects like career seminars for eighth grade students.

The deadline for PPIE's second grant cycle is March 14, 2006. Applications can be downloaded from www.ppie.org.
And the grant winners are....

Todd Andry, Amador, "Amador Valley Fashion Show"

Lisa Battershell, Foothill, "Every 15 Minutes"

Caitlin Coblentze, Village, "Cameras for Self-Esteem"

Eleni Comstock and Miguel Sadler, Valley View, "Breakfast Book Club"

Audrey Krieger, Valley View, "Pen Pal Letters"

Mackenzie McLeod, Hart, "Volleyball Uniforms"

Krishna Mehta and Lipika Agrawal, Hart, "2006 Yearbook Cameras"

Saru Mehta, Amador, "Literary Magazine"

Marius Mueller, Fairlands, "Robotics Club/Lego Mindstorm Games"

Amanda Paull, Pleasanton, "Astronomy Club Telescope"

Priyanka Prasad, Krishnapriya Somasekharan, Dipti Rai, Harvest Park, "Giving a Helping Hand - fundraiser for overcrowded schools in India"

Davis Rajs, Hart, "Attend CADA Leadership Conference"

Samuel Saldinger, Valley View, "Chess in the Classroom"

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