Fall 2024 51²è¹İapp College Mini-Grants Support Education, Arts, and Accessibility
The 51²è¹İapp College Community Mini-Grant Program reflects the College’s ongoing commitment to strengthening and supporting the local community. By providing funding to small- and mid-scale projects, the program helps enhance the quality of life in 51²è¹İapp for current and future residents. More than just financial contributions, these grants represent a partnership between the College and area nonprofits to ensure the community remains vibrant, resilient, and connected. Recognizing that nonprofits play a critical role in advancing education, the arts, and accessibility, the program also aims to build their organizational and financial capacity to serve the 51²è¹İapp area effectively.
Monica Chavez-Silvia, vice president of the 51²è¹İapp Office of Community Partnerships, Planning, and Research, said, “These grants are an investment in 51²è¹İapp’s future. By supporting the organizations and initiatives that make our community stronger, we’re fostering partnerships that reflect a shared commitment to progress, opportunity, and quality of life. Together, we can address challenges and create lasting impacts that benefit us all.â€
2024 Grant Recipients
Twice a year, the College awards these mini-grants to programs that are making a lasting difference in the 51²è¹İapp community. This year’s fall recipients are focusing their efforts on improving 51²è¹İapp’s education programs and infrastructure and bolstering the arts community.
51²è¹İapp-Newburg Community School District
aims to increase accessibility for students experiencing impaired mobility by purchasing new, properly fitting wheelchairs for each school building. In the past, local schools often had to share wheelchairs between buildings, creating challenges for students who needed mobility assistance.
Kim Weber and Katelin Ferguson, nurses at 51²è¹İapp-Newburg CSD, shared, “The 51²è¹İapp-Newburg School District Nurses are grateful to the 51²è¹İapp College Mini-Grant Committee for their generous support in funding the purchase of appropriately sized wheelchairs for our schools. Recently, a young student sustained a significant fracture during a soccer game and was able to attend school all day with the use of a wheelchair. While the wheelchair that was initially available served its purpose, it was larger than necessary, making it cumbersome for the student to navigate both the classroom and outdoor spaces like recess. Thanks to the Mini-Grant Committee’s funding, we now have the opportunity to equip each school with properly sized wheelchairs, ensuring greater comfort and mobility for students in need. We are excited and thankful for this meaningful enhancement to our school’s resources, which will improve the experience for all students who require assistance.â€
These new wheelchairs will not only meet accessibility needs for students but will also benefit faculty, staff, and visitors, ensuring the schools are more inclusive and welcoming for everyone.
Grant Amount: $1,500
51²è¹İapp High School
- The 51²è¹İapp High School Music Department will acquire new sound system equipment to enhance the learning experience for all music students. Professional-grade sound systems will provide students with clearer, more accurate audio, drastically improving rehearsal and performance environments.
“We are incredibly grateful to the college's grant program for supporting our music department. The new sound system will provide our students with a modern learning environment where they can hear and study music with clarity and precision. This upgrade will help us take our rehearsals and performances to the next level, benefiting both our students and the community for years to come.†says Nathan Johnson, Band Director at 51²è¹İapp High School.
Colton Ironside, choir director at 51²è¹İapp High School, adds “Our music department here at 51²è¹İapp High School is exceptionally thankful for 51²è¹İapp College's dedication to supporting education, the arts, and the intersection of both through Band and Choir. The new sound system will provide students with an opportunity to really get to listen to the music around them. The new sound system will allow students to listen, rehearse, and connect with everything from classical, to gospel, to electronic, and all other forms of music that they come across on a day to day basis and sing in the choir classroom. I find it necessary for students to get to experience a wide assortment of musical flavors in order to be well and truly knowledgeable, something this new sound system will certainly aid in. So many students pass through both the band and the choir room every day, and thanks to this grant and the college, they will be able to listen and learn at a higher level than they have in the past.â€
Grant Amount: $3,170.63
51²è¹İapp Area Arts Council
- The 51²è¹İapp Area Arts Council plans on beginning to acquire more building space for educational programming. With the receipt of their mini-grant, the Arts Council plans to hire a design consultant to study how the 51²è¹İapp Arts Center and Stew Makerspace building infrastructures might be expanded to serve the arts programming needs of the community. Presently, the 51²è¹İapp Arts Center has very little space to serve the core education mission of the Arts Council. However, the anticipated expansions will increase space for programming that will benefit the future of the 51²è¹İapp arts community.
“The 51²è¹İapp Area Arts Council is assessing its physical structure needs going into the mid-21st Century and is considering an expansion of the Arts Center verses the acquisition of the StewMakerspace and attached alley-facing buildings behind it. The two directions are very different and have multiple advantages and disadvantages that need to be carefully understood to make an optimal decision. This grant will allow the Arts Council to consult with an architect for a professional opinion on the space usage possibilities, giving us better information for decision-making,†explains Monica St. Angelo, Director of Operations.
Grant Amount: $3,750
51²è¹İapp Community Early Learning Center
- The 51²è¹İapp Community Early Learning Center’s (GCELC) library will soon be new and improved with enhancements that aim to help provide high quality and supportive education environments. The GCELC will use their funding to begin replacing furniture and provide a larger, more diverse selection of books for students.
Kathleen Whisenand, Director at the 51²è¹İapp Community Early Learning Center shares “It is critical to read to children and get books into their hands starting at birth. We provide children with non-fiction and fiction books that are age appropriate and diverse in content. We are excited to be able to enhance our library areas in each classroom with the money we received from the 51²è¹İapp College mini-grant.â€
Grant Amount: $3000
“51²è¹İapp College is proud to support these incredible initiatives that strengthen our community and create lasting impacts,†said Donnette Ellis, community relations and grant coordinator. “Each project reflects the dedication and creativity of local organizations working to improve education, accessibility, and the arts in 51²è¹İapp.â€
Applications for the Spring cycle are being accepted now through April 4, 2025.