Kate Boucher and Craig Kubiak LSC 5531 Module 6 October 14, 2013 Writing a Letter Proposal The

grant we chose to apply for is the classroom grant through the Loudoun Education Foundation: http://lef-va.com. While the general intent of the grant is to award classroom teachers up to $500 for innovative academic projects. However, there are no stipulations stating that school librarians are ineligible. The grants must either be for multi-disciplinary, multi-grade, or multi-school. While $500 will not purchase a lot of ereaders, it will allow the school to dabble and figure out if they are a good fit for the school. They may be used throughout the disciplines as well as grades, which fulfills the grants requirements. The original deadline for submission was October 11, 2013; however, I received an email from someone on the county level that it was extended to October 25, 2013, which means that it is still open and available. We feel that this is a viable proposal because it fulfills the following points that primary consideration will be given to: affects as many students as possible (the entire student body: up to 1300), benefits a diverse student group (the entire student body), involve students as much as possible (students are the ones that will actually be using the e-readers), supplement and/or enhance the standard curriculum (it may engage students to read more), and support a program or project with measureable results (increase student circulation in the school library). Likewise, it does not violate any of the points that the grant will not cover. While the e-readers will benefit less than ten students at a time, each student will only be allowed to check out the e-reader for a limited amount of time. This means that all students will have access to the e-readers, just like any other library or school resource. Regarding ongoing maintenance, we believe this to be minimal, once the e-readers are up and circulating. We believe that this grant is attainable. As there have been nationwide, there have been budget cuts in Loudoun County in the last few years. Loudoun County funds its school libraries well, but the noticeable resource missing are e-readers. Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS) has a total enrollment of 70,626 students (as of September 25, 2013) in 88 schools. That said, only 13 of those schools are middle schools, which could be of benefit to our proposal. Since the Loudoun Education Foundation is specific to Loudoun County Public Schools and the deadline for the submission of grant proposals has been extended, there is a strong chance that there are not many applicants for the fall grant (not to mention school has only been in session for five weeks). Further, LCPS as well as individual schools have many corporate and other business partners that are willing to help when possible (these are the main donors to the Loudoun Education Foundation); which means that if our trial is successful with a few e-readers from the grant, it is likely we could have a strong argument to the business community for more donations to expand our offerings, both in the number of e-readers and e-books.

Works Cited Miranda, Twyla, Kary A. Johnson, and Dara Rossi-Williams. "E-Readers: Powering Up For Engagement." Educational Leadership 69.9 (2012): 1-3. Academic Search Complete. Web. 14 Oct. 2013. Puente, Kelly. "Empowering Students With Digital Reading." District Administration (2012): 39-44. Academic Search Complete. Web. 14 Oct. 2013.

10/14/2013

Ms. Robin Mong Executive Director The Loudoun Education Foundation 21000 Education Court Ashburn, VA 20148 Dear Ms. Mong: Our school district of J. Michael Lunsford Middle School is located in an extremely rural area, and many students do not have access to the internet at home. Most of the exposure that students have to technology is in school, and that is a limited supply. Much of the yearly budget is allocated to special programs indicative of the schools demographic, such as agricultural and mechanical classes. The library program is consistently underfunded by general standards, as we do not have the opportunity to purchase new materials or resources this year, especially those that would fund a pilot project. While our student population is ethnically homogenous, we serve a diverse socio-economic population, as well as many students with physical and mental disabilities. It is essential that our staff has every resource available to aid our students in the learning process.

The aim of the school library staff is to pilot an e-Reader Lending Program in our school this year. We request $500 to purchase three e-reading devices (Nooks), and a variety of e-Books to start the program. We hope that with this funding and those resources, we can achieve the programs main goal, which is to increase literacy school wide. We hope to achieve our goal through two main objectives, which will be monitored by the school library staff:

1) Participating students will read more, as demonstrated by a 10% increase in library circulation rates from the previous school year. 2) Faculty will be able to offer personalized literacy instruction to students through the use of e-Readers in the classroom and the library, as evidenced by staff reports.

We live in an increasingly digital world, and the majority of current students in the United States are technologically driven. It is imperative that our students are provided with the same opportunities of those across the country. By integrating technology into our book lending program, we can generate excitement in our students for the library program, that has otherwise been lackluster. Motivation is key when it comes to promoting reading. Studies show that many students will appreciate the three Ps that come with using e-readers: participation, portability, and personalization. The incorporation of technology instantly makes the reading process more interesting. Students will be able to check-out and carry multiple texts at one time, without the

cumbersome weight of the books to impede them (physically or psychologically). Students will have more choice in the books they are reading, as well as more privacy when determining their individual reading level. Perhaps most importantly, digital reading products can personalize reading for struggling students and help interest young readers in nonfiction books, which are a major component in the Common Core State Standards Initiative designed to strengthen current state standards. This project was developed collaboratively by the J. Michael Lunsford Middle School library staff and the English Language Arts department. All members are dedicated to improving student literacy in our school, and have collectively agreed to commit an additional two hours per week to the evaluation of the project. While the projects effectiveness will not be determined until the timeframe is complete (one full school year), circulation statistics and staff use reports will be monitored and discussed on a monthly basis. Due to the nature of the project, the volunteers will not be compensated for their time, nor will the any further resources be required of the school district. When the program was been evaluated after the full year, the volunteer staff will present their findings to the school board and administrators. If findings support the case for the use of e-Readers in the library, the volunteer staff may wish to share their program with surrounding districts, through BOCES. Once the grant funding has ended, the existing eReaders will continue to be in use by the district. Hopefully, with our program statistics as support, our staff will be able to advocate strongly for increased funding for the library program in our district for the purchase of additional e-Readers and digital texts, in a continuous attempt to promote literacy in our school.

Thank you for your valued time and consideration of this proposal.

Respectfully, Katelyn Boucher & Craig Kubiak School Library Media Specialists J. Michael Lunsford Middle School Loudoun County Public Schools 26020 Ticonderoga Road Chantilly, VA 20152