GRANTS

Grants are available to FIRST in Michigan Preschool FIRST LEGO League Discover teams. Teams should connect to companies in their area for additional grant opportunities. Encourage team parents/mentors to reach out to their employers. Many companies have grants available to employees who are engaged in youth STEM programming.

Teams should carefully review grant eligibility requirements and application procedures. Participation in a sanctioned FIRST in Michigan event is a requirement of all grants.

FIRST®
FIRST® is committed to fostering, cultivating, and preserving a culture of diversity and inclusion. To build a uniquely diverse and innovative workforce – one that can truly address the challenges facing today’s world – we need kids of all backgrounds and capabilities in the professional pipeline. All kids need equitable access to opportunity, relevant mentorship, and engagement to build a foundation for a bright future. Collectively, we must empower our young people to grow up to solve the world’s most pressing problems, be strong citizens, and build a brighter future. – FIRST® LEGO® League Explore which serves grades 2-4, FIRST® LEGO® League Challenge which serves grades 4-8, FIRST® Tech Challenge, serving grades 7-12, and FIRST® Robotics Competition which serves grades 9-12.

FIRST® LEGO® League Discover
FIRST LEGO League Discover is a playful introductory STEM program for children in Preschool – Pre-K (ages 3 – 4), that ignites their natural curiosity and builds their habits of learning. By the end of the program, children emerge more confident, better equipped to face future challenges, and discover the joy of learning.

How does it work?
A new and exciting challenge is presented every year and each team of four children begins their exploration of this real-world theme with an exclusive LEGO Education Discover Set. With this set as a starting point, throughout the 10 sessions of the experience, they build a solution to the challenge with LEGO® DUPLO® elements. Teams share their journey, ideas, models, and STEM skills at a celebration event. Throughout their experience, teams operate under the FIRST Core Values, celebrating discovery and teamwork, all the while having fun!

TEAM GRANTS
MI Dept. of Education FIRST Robotics State Grant – Closes Dec. 11

FIRST in Michigan preschool FIRST LEGO League Discover teams affiliated with an MDE recognized (public or private) school/charter/academy are eligible for a team grant of up to $350 plus a coach stipend of up to $200. Payout is made incrementally as part of the school’s monthly state aid payout.  The grant is available for application on the MDE’s MEGS+ system which is accessible by the Level 5 employee (usually someone in finance) for the school or district.

Teams applying for this grant must show their school affiliation on their Team Profile. The Team Profile can be edited via the team’s Dashboard accessible from the FIRST Account of the Lead Coach/Mentor 1 & 2.

What information to share with your Level 5:

  • FIRST Program: Our program is FIRST LEGO League Discover.
  • FIRST Team Number: Please make sure it’s accurate. Use your permanent team number.
  • Team Name: If you don’t have a team name yet, just make one up. Don’t let this part hold up the application.
  • School Building: Team’s affiliated school.
  • Coach Name, email, phone number

Participation in a sanctioned FIRST in Michigan FLL Discover event in the 2020-21 season is a requirement of teams that receive the MDE FIRST Robotics grant award.

The MDE FIRST Robotics grant has FLL, FTC, and FRC award and coach stipend components in addition to the FLL Discover awards/coach stipends. Teams must be aligned with the Michigan FIRST Progression of Programs (FLL Discover: Pre-K; FLL Explore: K-3; FLL Challenge: Upper Elementary; FTC: Middle School; FRC: High School) and formed out of MDE recognized (public or private) schools, charters, and academies to be eligible.

OPEN: December 9
CLOSES: January 6, 2022
AMOUNT: Team grant + coach stipend (see below)

  • DETAILS:
    The State has approved $4,723,200 in support of FIRST Robotics teams affiliated with MDE recognized public schools/charters/academies across all programs. Additionally, $600,000 has been approved in support of FIRST Robotics teams affiliated with MDE recognized non-public schools across all programs. Non-publics schools need to establish a SIGMA Vendor Code with the MDE prior to the grant closing date.PreK/DevK – FIRST LEGO League Discover proposed amounts1st Year Rookie:
    Team Support (MDE) – Up to $ 350
    Stipend (MDE) – Up to $ 20

    All Returning Teams:
    Team Support (MDE) – Up to $ 350
    Stipend (MDE) – Up to $ 200

    *Actual stipend and team support amounts may change based on the availability of funding.

  • Payout is made incrementally as part of the school’s monthly state aid payout. The grant is available for application on the MDE’s NexSys system (not MEGS+) which is accessible by the Level 5 employee (usually someone in finance) for the school or district. Grant awards are released in the State Aid System in February.Applying teams must be registered with FIRST HQ for the 2021-2022 season. Participation in a sanctioned FIRST in Michigan FTC engagement option in the 2021-2022 season is a requirement of teams that receive the MDE FIRST Robotics grant award.

    Teams (Teachers) applying for this grant must list their school affiliation on their Team (Class Pack) Profile. The Team (Class Pack) Profile can be edited via the team’s Dashboard accessible from the FIRST Account of the Lead Coach/Mentor 1 & 2.

    Grant materials are posted on techplan.org, under EDTECH INITIATIVES: https://www.techplan.org/edtech-initiatives/rdi/first-robotics/

  • How to Apply:The grant must be initiated and submitted by the person in your school/district with Level 5 clearance. This person is usually in the superintendent’s office. The Level 5 can give the coach Level 3 or 4 clearance to fill it out once it is initiated. Then, the Level 5 can review the information and submit the application.
    Any MDE recognized public or non-public school/district may apply for the grant.
    All of a school’s/district’s FIRST teams should be included on a single application. The application allows you to add “pages” for each team across programs. It should include all of the FRC, FTC, FLL-Challenge/Explore/Discover teams in your school/district.
    If you are a non-public school and don’t have a SIGMA vendor number with the state yet, you must establish one. Do this right away.
    The award amounts in the grant are qualified with the words “up to”. This serves to alert you that this is the maximum amount the team may be awarded but the numbers may be adjusted downward based on the number of applicants.
    The team budget is now part of the application. There is no longer a separate spending plan.
    Make sure you communicate right away with your Level 5 because January 6 will come more quickly than you think.
    Participating in a sanctioned FIRST in Michigan FTC competition in the 2021-2022 season is a requirement of the grant. Participating in a fall, winter-remote, or spring FiM FTC event satisfies this requirement.
    Please reach out to tammy@firstinmichigan.org if you have any issues. I may not have the answers but I can help direct you to someone who does.
  • Resources:
    FIRST specific: MDE Grant Step by Step Guide
    2021-22 99h: Robotics NexSys ApplicationStep-by-step Instructions
    2021-22 99h: Robotics Competition Grant Student Roster
    2021-22 99h: Robotics Competition Grant RFP Instructions
    2021-22 Technical Assistance Webinar
    MDE contact for 99h grant: Ashley Arras, ArrasA@michigan.gov, 517-241-6966
Michigan LEGO Foundation Grant

Grant Opportunity
To ensure greater access and ensure inclusion of all children, FIRST in Michigan, in partnership with FIRST, LEGO Education and with the support of the LEGO Foundation, is providing LEGO product and funding to communities through the FIRST LEGO League Discover Grant. This project is intended to provide support to start or grow FIRST LEGO League Discover, with particular emphasis on sites in areas with underrepresented and underserved children. For the purposes of this grant, underserved or underrepresented children include:

  • Girls
  • Youth of color
  • Students from economically disadvantaged, rural, or urban communities
  • Students with disabilities

*The full definition of who is considered underrepresented/underserved can be found on the grant application*

By providing start-up materials and professional development through the grant, local educators and program partners will be able to build capacity and scale the delivery of FIRST LEGO League Discover in future years.

Requirements

  • Complete LEGO Foundation Grant Application. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis until filled.
  • Serve at least 80 students in pre-K through 1st grade
  • Serve primarily underrepresented and underserved students
  • Run the full program as designed (10 sessions) of Discover between August 2021 and June 2022
    • Engage parents by sending the Discover More sets home with students. We encourage organizations to implement additional parent engagement strategies.
    • For the final session (session 10), hold a Discover Showcase celebration event to recognize student accomplishments and share their work with others.• At least one teacher for every 30 students must attend in-person or remote Professional Development. Travel costs to in-person sessions are not included in the grant.
    • Discover Professional Development sessions will be approximately 6 hours long.
      • Sessions will be offered remotely with multiple dates throughout the fall. In-person sessions will be added as possible.
    • Sites receiving grants to serve over 300 students will receive training at their location from a FIRST Certified trainer at a date scheduled in collaboration with the site and the FIRST Education Department.
    • Other dates or locations may be booked through the FIRST Education Department at additional cost to your organization – see the FIRST website for more information.
  • Site coordinators must provide student participation numbers and deidentified demographic data in a year-end report.
  • Teachers must participate in the evaluation study conducted by FIRST and FIRST’s designees. Teachers will complete a pre-survey, post-survey, and logs after each session.
  • Agree to offer Discover for one additional year beyond the grant period (2022-2023 school year). Organizations must agree to cover the registration costs for the number of students included in the grant for next year; future season registration is not provided by the grant. Registration is expected to be approximately $200 for 8 students in future seasons.
  • Sign a Memorandum of Understanding agreeing to the requirements of the grant and expected use of the products provided

Included in the Grant
The grant consists of LEGO products and Professional Development, valued at $1431 per class pack registration:

  • Registration ($175 for 8 students)
    Each class pack includes:
    o 8 student Engineering Notebooks
    o 1 teacher Team Meeting Guides
    o 2 Discover sets
    o 8 Discover More sets, intended to be sent home with students for families to keep
  • 2 STEAM Park Sets for every 8 students ($342 for 2 sets)
  • 1 seat at a Professional Development session for every 30 students (valued at $250 per person)

These items are not provided by the grant and must be paid by the grant recipient:

  • Shipping ($36 per order for registration)
  • Taxes (Organizations who are not tax exempt must pay taxes on the grant-provided registrations and products.)
  • Travel, food and accommodation costs to attend in-person professional development
Gerber Foundation Grant

Grant Opportunity
To ensure greater access and ensure inclusion of all children, FIRST in Michigan, in partnership with FIRST, LEGO Education and with the support of the Gerber Foundation, is providing LEGO product and funding to Newaygo County Schools through the Gerber Foundation Grant. This project is intended to provide support to start or grow FIRST LEGO League Discover, with particular emphasis on underrepresented and underserved children attending Newaygo County Schools. For the purposes of this grant, underserved or underrepresented children include:

  • Girls
  • Youth of color
  • Students from economically disadvantaged, rural, or urban communities
  • Students with disabilities

* The full definition of who is considered underrepresented/underserved can be found on the grant application *

By providing start-up materials and professional development through the grant, local educators and program partners will be able to build capacity and scale the delivery of FIRST LEGO League Discover in future years.

Requirements

  • Complete Gerber Foundation Grant Application. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis until filled.
  • Serve at least 80 students in pre-K through 1st grade
  • Serve primarily underrepresented and underserved students
  • Run the full program as designed (10 sessions) of Discover between August 2021 and June 2022
    • Engage parents by sending the Discover More sets home with students. We encourage organizations to implement additional parent engagement strategies.
    • For the final session (session 10), hold a Discover Showcase celebration event to recognize student accomplishments and share their work with others.• At least one teacher for every 30 students must attend in-person or remote Professional Development. Travel costs to in-person sessions are not included in the grant.
    • Discover Professional Development sessions will be approximately 6 hours long.
      • Sessions will be offered remotely with multiple dates throughout the fall. In-person sessions will be added as possible.
    • Sites receiving grants to serve over 300 students will receive training at their location from a FIRST Certified trainer at a date scheduled in collaboration with the site and the FIRST Education Department.
    • Other dates or locations may be booked through the FIRST Education Department at additional cost to your organization – see the FIRST website for more information.
  • Site coordinators must provide student participation numbers and deidentified demographic data in a year-end report.
  • Teachers must participate in the evaluation study conducted by FIRST and FIRST’s designees. Teachers will complete a pre-survey, post-survey, and logs after each session.
  • Agree to offer Discover for one additional year beyond the grant period (2022-2023 school year). Organizations must agree to cover the registration costs for the number of students included in the grant for next year; future season registration is not provided by the grant. Registration is expected to be approximately $200 for 8 students in future seasons.
  • Sign a Memorandum of Understanding agreeing to the requirements of the grant and expected use of the products provided

Included in the Grant
The grant consists of LEGO products and Professional Development, valued at $1431 per class pack registration:

  • Registration ($175 for 8 students)
    Each class pack includes:
    o 8 student Engineering Notebooks
    o 1 teacher Team Meeting Guides
    o 2 Discover sets
    o 8 Discover More sets, intended to be sent home with students for families to keep
  • 2 STEAM Park Sets for every 8 students ($342 for 2 sets)
  • 1 seat at a Professional Development session for every 30 students (valued at $250 per person)

These items are not provided by the grant and must be paid by the grant recipient:

  • Shipping ($36 per order for registration)
  • Taxes (Organizations who are not tax exempt must pay taxes on the grant-provided registrations and products.)
  • Travel, food and accommodation costs to attend in-person professional development