The Varsity Brands Empowerment Journal Flash Grant

Varsity Brands Empowerment Journal Flash Grant Program

Brought to you by Varsity Brands, OPEN, The Go Be Great Foundation, and US Games.

The application portal is closed and winners have been selected.

Flash Grant Program Information

The Flash-Grant Application was open from November 17 to midnight November 24, 2020. Winners were announced via the Believe In You Newsletter on December 1, 2020 (Giving Tuesday).

12 schools have been awarded the following Social and Emotional Learning Resources.

  • Up to 150 Empowerment Journals. Schools can specify Elementary, Middle, or High School Journals. (A $1,050 value.)
  • Live, online professional development for teachers and staff implementing the Empowerment Journal Program. (A $925 value.)
  • $75 US Games Equipment Certificate

Total Grant Value per School: $2,050

Selected applicants must be willing to participate in the Empowerment Journal Program Evaluation Process. Six school sites will be selected to begin implementation in January of 2021, and six school sites will begin after March of 2021.
The evaluation will include voluntary teacher and student surveys and voluntary teacher interviews.

Applications will be evaluated based on:

  1. Economic need (25 Points)
  2. Ability to implement the Journaling Program (25 Points)
  3. Clarity of evaluation commitment (25 Points)
  4. Clarity of program vision (25 Points)
The top SIX scores will receive the program materials for a January implementation. The next SIX scores will receive the program materials at a time chosen between March and September of 2021.

Due to the overwhelming response to our Flash Grant announcement, Varsity Brands, OPEN, US Games and the Go Be Great Foundation has doubled the number of grants awarded (from 6 to 12).

Nearly half of all applications received came from schools with 95%-100% of students receiving free and reduced-price lunch. Although our partnership is proud to fund outstanding programs in schools in severe need of resources, we realize there are well over 100 schools that we cannot fund at this time. We appreciate the time and effort taken by every school that submitted a proposal and will be offering discounted program pricing to every applicant.

And the winners are…

January Implementations (Grants 1 – 6)

  1. SEA-Tech, Career Readiness Academy, and Isaac Bear High School (Jayne Emma, Wilmington, NC)
  2. Parkdale Elementary / Cascade Locks Elementary (Brack Hassell, Parkdale, OR)
  3. Cheviot Elementary / Gifted Academy West (Beth Sifri, Cincinnati, OH)
  4. Bridges Learning Center (Sarah Kalain, Akron, OH)
  5. C. Virgo (Jamie Updegraff, Wilmington, NC)
  6. Lynch Literacy Academy (Colleen McHeard, Amsterdam, NY)

March-September Implementations (Grants 7-12)

  1. Highland High School (Ann Paulls-Neal, Albuquerque, NM)
  2. Smith-Hale Middle School (Elizabeth Huff-Jaminez, Kansas City, MO)
  3. Southside K-8 (Lois Brown, War, WV)
  4. Millicoma Middle School (Ashley Warrick, Coos Bay, OR)
  5. Minnesota Math and Science Academy (Leslie Oskey, St. Paul, MN)
  6. South Bay Elementary (Jenifer Parnell, Eureka, CA)

Winners will be contacted by email before the end of day on December 2, 2020.