MUSEUMS-SCHOOLS GRANT PROGRAM SEEKS APPLICATIONS
Lambert, Kirby
ANNOUNCEMENT: MUSEUMS-SCHOOLS GRANT PROGRAM SEEKS APPLICATIONS
Deadline for applications – April 16, 2010
Enhancing Museum Collections with Essential Understandings: A Grant Opportunity for Montana Museums and Schools (A partnership program of Office of Public Instruction-Indian Education and the Montana Historical Society)
A maximum of ten grant awards of up to $14,000* each will be given to selected museum-school partnerships who meet the following criteria. Deadline for grant applications is April 16, 2010. Awards will be announced on April 26, 2010. All projects must be completed by June 30, 2011.
During the period April 26, 2010, to June 30, 2011, each partnership will collaborate on one or more educational products/projects that access museum collections and that incorporate two or more of the seven essential understandings of Indian Education for All.
The educational product(s) or project must be the result of a high level of student involvement (perhaps an honors class or after-school club), of students who sustain their work for a minimum of 10 months throughout the entire 14-month project period. The museum-school teams (including selected students) will be required to attend a 2-day orientation seminar at the Montana Historical Society in mid-June, 2010. Each team will also be required to attend a workshop at one of Montana’s nationally accredited museums (Montana Historical Society/Helena, C. M. Russell Museum/Great Falls, Museum of the Rockies/Bozeman, Western Heritage Center/Billings, and the Historical Museum at Fort Missoula/Missoula). Each team will work closely with, and be visited by, an Indian Education for All coach who will coach, advise, and facilitate the connection between museums and schools. Each team will involve one or more tribal persons as consultant(s).
A successful application will (a) demonstrate a commitment to a sustained 14-month project with the same team members, including students; (b) demonstrate a working knowledge of the Seven Essential Understandings of Indian Education for All and how those understandings may apply in a museum-school project; (c) provide a realistic budget in response to the budget guidelines; (d) discuss the lasting impact of the partnership project; and (e) narrate in a convincing manner a thorough outline of the project, providing as much detail as possible.
Examples of museum-school projects:
1. A museum-school collaboration creates a collections guide (narrated inventory) of artifacts and documents, and uses it to guide exhibit development. Working with their teacher, the Indian Education for All coach, the museum staff, and the tribal consultant, students learn the history, use, and cultural context of many objects. Some objects are studied in the museum; some are brought to the classroom. The tribal consultant replicates certain artifacts, and teaches students to do the same. Certain essential understandings that may be difficult to explore and explain through artifacts (such as #5 “major federal policy periods”) will require a standard library approach, perhaps focusing on oral histories; museum archives may be helpful in this regard.
2. A partnership creates a suitcase exhibit (or traveling exhibit) for use in district classrooms and in the museum. The exhibit project begins with conceptualization, through storyline development, selection of artifacts and graphics, to design, final text, exhibit installation in the museum or school or another public space, to marketing the exhibit with opening-night festivities and associated programs during the life of the exhibit.
3. The museum-school team decides to compete in National History Day, and works on a project that meets that meets the criteria of that program as well as the goals of Indian Education for All. National History Day makes history come alive for America's youth by engaging them in the discovery of the historic, cultural and social experiences of the past. Through hands-on experiences and presentations, today's youth are better able to inform the present and shape the future. NHD inspires children through exciting competitions and transforms teaching through project-based curriculum and instruction. National History Day requires in-depth research by students as well as the production of a final product—either an exhibit or documentary—that will have lasting value to the museum and its constituents.
4. Other similar projects designed by the museum/school teams that further the goals of Indian Education for All; familiarize students with the methods of historical research; inform students of the importance of cultural preservation; further the educational goals of the participating museum; and is sustainable for future student educational opportunities within the school and/or museum.
*museum-school budget
School $4,000
Tribal consultant 2,000
Museum 4,000
Educational Products/resources 4,000
$14,000 total
For further information/questions, please contact:
Richard Sims at rs...@mt.gov or 444-5485
Bill Mercer at bme...@mt.gov or 444-4753
Kirby Lambert at klam...@mt.gov or 444-4741