October 24, 2007. BOULDER, CO - Impact on Education, an organization dedicated to increasing student learning and support for public education in the Boulder Valley School District, announced today that it will award a total of $81,407 in Classroom Mini-Grants this school year to 42 BVSD schools and programs. Of the 207 applications received, 142 - 69% of them will be funded. Through the Classroom Mini-Grant process, teachers from throughout the district were invited to submit online applications for up to $600 in grant funds to develop innovative classroom projects with hands-on activities for students.

Each grant was read and scored by five "blind" Readers, with a median score to determine ranking. The highest scored grants proposed creative, engaging activities to overcome learning obstacles. Many of the awarded grants have imaginative, almost whimsical names, such as "Diary of an Insect," "Monday Morning Blah Sculptures" and "Let's Get Atomic!" Some applications propose to use innovative ways to teach important skills, such as "Manners Count: Social Graces for Developmentally Disabled High School Students," which uses role playing to teach and practice appropriate humor, eye contact and table manners. Others, like "Service Learning Garden" will use collaborations between different age groups or schools or with community organizations to teach a new skill or concept.

Founded in 1983, Impact on Education is a private, non-profit community partnership for Boulder Valley Public Schools. The organization solicits crucially needed resources from businesses, individuals and foundations for classroom projects, in support of technology, to prevent dropout and to help level the playing field for disadvantaged students. In 24 years, Impact on Education has raised and invested $4.2 million, benefiting over 450,000 students and 2,500 teachers. To learn more, visit www.impactoneducation.org or call 303-524-3865.