While the school board or administrators usually determine how to money is spent, at Southern Valley High School in Oxford, Nebraska, it is the students who are deciding how to use an $11,000 technology grant, the Kearney Hub reports.
According to the report, students of James Reed's Modern Problems class are using the opportunity to learn about both sides of the grant writing process. Earlier in the school year, the students learned how to write grant applications. And after being awarded the funds through the Cameron Foundation in Sacramento, California, the students got to figure out how to disperse the grant.
Teachers presented their proposals to the students and, ultimately, the students awarded three grants ranging from $1,950 to $5,600 for new classroom technology.
Many schools use grants provided by nonprofits and other organizations to invest in new technology and enhance the educational experience. For example, teachers can use a classroom computer, an interactive whiteboard or a
DLP projector to create a learning environment that encourages student participation.
In addition to the Cameron Foundation grant, the students dispersed an extra $550 to the teachers. According to the report, the additional funding will come from the school's vendor machine.
