OKEECHOBEE — Okeechobee County School District teachers are encouraged to apply for the 2021-2022 Classroom Mini-Grants being offered by the Education Foundation of Okeechobee. The application period is now open and will be available until 5 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 16.  You can find the link to the electronic application here.

Up to $42,500 is available this year for projects to enhance vocabulary in local classrooms. Local donors contribute to the program with most grants receiving a state funded match creating 60 opportunities for teachers to receive the funding. The average grant is $500 and is intended for experiential learning and/or to purchase resources and production materials to facilitate students further developing skills in vocabulary. This is the very first year that the foundation will be contributing just over $6,000 to be matched as well, allowing the opportunity for four brand new book vending machines to come to our Okeechobee elementary schools. The 60 grant awards will be presented in January.

Thank you grant sponsors: Brennan Eye Care, Cattlewomen’s Association, Delta Kappa Gamma, Education Foundation of Okeechobee, Family Dentistry of Okeechobee, Gay Carlton, Glades Electric Cooperative, Jill Holcomb, Ken Kenworthy, Kiwanis of Okeechobee, Leslie Lundy, New Hampshire Granite State Dairy, Okeechobee Battlefield Friends, Rotary of Okeechobee, Seacoast Bank, SouthState Bank, and Sumner Engineering.

The Education Foundation of Okeechobee is excited to offer the annual classroom mini-grants program to provide teachers resources to enhance the learning environment for all students. Any donors wishing to support the Education Foundation of Okeechobee can contact Denise at 863-697-1468.