John R. Stowe Cultural Immersion Grant Application

Who’s Eligible:  Any current Georgia TESOL member in good standing

Purpose:  This grant is intended to provide assistance for an immersion experience abroad for an educator who wishes to serve his or her students better by learning more about their culture and language through experiencing the culture firsthand. It is named in honor of our late colleague and Georgia TESOL member 

John Stowe who was constantly learning languages, traveling, and spending time with students in order to better understand their culture. John also firmly believed that a strong sense of place is a vital part of being truly immersed and connected to a community.
Here are just a few examples of the many ways in which this grant could be used:  
An educator whose student population is predominantly Chinese and who has never visited China or learned the language could use the grant to visit the country, live with a host family, and  enroll in a language program. 

An educator who teaches a largely Mexican population and who already speaks Spanish but has never visited Mexico could use the grant to tour the country and participate in a cultural exchange program.

An educator who would like to take a graduate level class to become better prepared to teach his/her ELL population could use the grant to defray costs of participation in one of the many available study abroad courses that focus on language/culture/linguistics  and have a cultural immersion component (UGA and Valdosta State offer such programs; there are many others available as well). 

Amount:  up to $2000

Criteria: Applications are evaluated on the basis of (a) rationale, (b) relevance, (c) impact, (d) implementation plan, and (e) evaluation plan. Applicants are encouraged to view this rubric that will be used by the review panel.  

Due Date:  Applications for must be completed on or before December 31 
Review Committee:  Three or more Members-at-Large of the Georgia TESOL Board will conduct a blind review of all complete applications.  

How to apply:
1) Complete the John R. Stowe Cultural Immersion Grant application.2) Request one letter of recommendation. The recommendation letter must be submitted directly to the Grants and Awards Chair, grantsandawards@gatesol.org by the application due date. Subject line should read "Recommendation letter for _____ for Stowe Immersion Grant."

Additional Comments: 

1. The grant will be offered on a yearly basis.
2. The Review Committee may recommend to divide the grant between 2 or more recipients.
3. The recipient(s) and other applicants will be notified of the committee's decision.
4. A grantee may not reapply for at least three years.
5. The Review Committee may decide that no grant will be provided for a given year.
6. The grantee agrees to share grant results with members through a presentation related to the project at a Georgia TESOL conference, an article related to the grant for the GA TESOL Newsletter or GATESOL In Action Journal, or other approved posts via social media outlets

All GATESOL grant funds will be disbursed through reimbursement upon submission of receipts or invoices to the GATESOL Treasurer at treasurer@gatesol.org.

The grantee agrees to: 

1. Complete his/her/their travels within 1 year. Any exceptions to this must be communicated to the Grants and Awards chair.

Any questions regarding the grant can be directed to the Grants and Awards Committee Chairperson at grantsandawards@gatesol.org 
 

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* 1. Rationale: Why do you want this grant?

- State the need as clearly and precisely as possible
- Summarize relevant background information about the region, community, and resources available
- Include specific information regarding the focus area i.e. topic of your proposal
- Refer to data, examples, past projects, quotes, and/or media articles to build a case for support.
- Explain any support you may have within your organization or community

 

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* 2. Relevance: How does your grant proposal address GATESOL’s purpose to:

● Encourage professional development, participation, and leadership within the state of Georgia.
● Provide opportunities for study and research.
● Work cooperatively toward the improvement of instruction in all programs that seek to provide students with an opportunity to acquire English language skills and proficiency.
● Promote an understanding of the cultures of non-native speakers of English.
● Create an online and offsite platform for Georgia educators to share the knowledge to better serve the ESOL community.

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* 3. Impact: Who is your target population and what effect will the grant have in your community?

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* 4. Implementation Plan: Please explain the general scope, steps, timeline, and budget expenditures in detail

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* 5. Evaluation plan: How will you measure the success of this grant project? Describe goals and measures to gauge effectiveness of goals upon completion.

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* 6. Sharing: How will you share your grant project with Georgia TESOL colleagues? Be as specific as possible and please note the requirements of the grant as listed in the grant description.

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