Capacity Building Grants
($1000- $5,000 Due by October 1st of the year)

Goal:
Capacity Building Grants are for projects and materials that build long-term capacity at K-12 schools or educational non-profits. Examples may include investments in technology, laboratory-building, or teaching materials. The grants may also include equipment for projects that can be used every year, such as a robotics or engineering club, classroom technology, etc.

Award Details:
Awards may vary in size from $1,000-$5,000 per project. Amounts depend on the application. Application deadline for the Capacity Building Grant is October 1st of the year.

Eligible Applicants:
Applicants may include teachers or administrators at a K-12 school or educational nonprofit engaged in work with students in grades K-12. We will accept multiple applications from any given institution, but there will be only one grant awarded per institution. Board members, employees or close relatives of employees and board members of Terra Science and Education are not eligible to apply.

Criteria:
In order to best serve the educational community, we will choose grants on the basis of the following criteria:
  • Innovative nature of investment
  • Reusability of investment
  • Number of students impacted
  • Reasonable plan for timing and cost of implementation

Apply:
Download and fill out the application form and email it to [email protected] by the October 1st of the year.

Progress Report:
Download and fill out the application form and email it to [email protected].

Final Report:
Download and fill out the application form and email it to [email protected].

Liverpool Middle School, PI: Kellie Bouthillier – $5,000
Virtual Reality for STEM Education
This project uses virtual reality in the classroom to guide students into a deeper understanding of STEM concepts. Through this immersive technology students will be able to better explore topics that are conceptually difficult to navigate, such as the desert, rain forests, or the ocean.

Van Buren Elementary School, PI: Sarah Parrish – $1,540
Van Buren STEM Club
Under this project students will collaboratively explore, investigate and discover subjects such as science, math, technology, and engineering in an after-school learning environment. Students in the club extend their learning through a series of hands on experiments and challenges including working with Ozobots and Makey Makey kits, and other engineering and design manipulatives to explore coding, robotics, and the engineering design process.

Bolivar Road Elementary School, PI: Renee Burgess – $5,000
Sensory Friendly ChillSpa
Under this project students will have access to a peaceful multi-sensory environment. The room will help students to self-regulate their body and brain, which then carries over into the classroom learning environment.

East Hill Elementary School, PI: Danielle Tuttle – $3,600
East Hill Coding Club
This project will implement a coding group where boys and girls grades 2-5 can learn coding and computer skills before school, giving them an expanded view of future possibilities available in STEM.

Fayetteville Manlius High School, PI: Ben Gnacik– $3,481.85
Bringing The World To Our Students
This project allows students to be active in environments in order to cement learning standards using Next Generation Science Standards methods of beginning units with an experience or concept. Students will virtually visit ecosystems that textbooks and photos often struggle to make relevant.

Utica City School District, PI: Adam Lovecchio – $4,911.36
Robotics/Coding Lessons/Club
Under this project students will learn how to build and program robots using Vex Robots in class and after school in the Robotics Club. Students will gain valuable knowledge in programming and engineering as well as an understanding of the parts of a computer.

Sauquoit Valley Elementary School, PI: Mark Putnam – $2,018
STEAM Studio/Rube Goldberg Challenge
Under this project a STEAM studio will be created so that students will be able to collaborate, design, and build different objectives. The first challenge will be the 4th grade students building a Rube Goldberg machine to put money in a piggy bank.

Casey Park Elementary School, PI: Shannon DelloStritto – $1,354
All STEAM Ahead
This project will provide a STEAM learning environment that allows students to explore, design, and imagine using science inquiry and project based learning.

Vernon-Verona-Sherrill Central School District, PI: Lee Meyers – $1,799.99
Sphero Supercharged Robotics
This project will introduce coding and foster creativity through discovery among K-6 grade students. Students will experiment with momentum as they learn about motion and forces as they use the robots to test the structural integrity of a bridge they create.

McConnellsville Elementary School, PI: Shelly DeLosh – $1,650
All Aboard The Coding Express
Students will learn to code with the Lego Coding Express. Through hands-on engaging play, students learn important concepts such as sequencing, looping, and conditions while developing problem-solving skills, critical thinking and collaboration.

Clinton Middle School, PI: Sarah Gaetano – $1,959.16
Creative Freedom Friday
Under this project students will have “Genius Hour,” a service project which allows students to work actively in the identification of problems within their community and aiming to solve them in a creative fashion. Through the projects, students will become life-long advocates and functional members of their community.

Buffalo Academy of Science Charter School, PI: Doug Borzynski – $4,991
Buffalo Academy of Science Charter School STEM Lab
Under this project Buffalo Academy of Science will use its state-of-the-art mobile STEM learning lab to excite and engage buffalo youth in job-ready STEM careers upon high school graduation. The mobile STEM learning lab will expose youth who are typically underrepresented in STEM to in-demand jobs, help them become job ready in today’s global economy, and contribute to the expansion of a skilled STEM workforce, both in Western New York and elsewhere.

Utica Academy of Science Charter School, PI: Genevieve Campanella – $1,895
Student Success Through Literacy and STEAM
The goal of this grant project is to promote lifelong learning by equipping classrooms with hands-on learning tools and enhancing engagement with parents and community members through interdisciplinary STEAM activities and events.

Syracuse Academy of Science High School, PI: Alexandra Carlson – $3,238
SAS Band Instruments
This grant supports the expansion of the band program, adding a bass clarinet and tenor saxophone which are integral part of a high school band and essential to providing students college-ready high school band experience.

Syracuse Academy of Science Middle School, PI: Jillian Knapp – $1,350
Middle School Science and Academic Fair
Under this project students will take part in science and academic fairs which will excite students about science and academics while also teaching them how to run controlled experiments and about the scientific method.

Syracuse Academy of Science and Citizenship, PI: Hayley Ireland – $4,245.69
Citizenship Makerspace/Junior STEM
The enrichment program closes the gap in STEM learning for low-income, ENL and minority students by providing an engaging environment that exposes students to STEM at a young age and facilitates collaboration and engagement through creativity.

North Side Learning Center, PI: Hussein Yerow – $5,000
Making Futures Bright: Exploring New Places
The North Side Learning Center will utilize these funds in conjunction with additional funding to purchase a 15-passenger van to bring students to the communities’ many resources such as museums, the zoo, parks and lakes, and colleges.

Paul V. Moore High School, PI: Fred Kowanes – $1,330.41
Trout in the Classroom
Under this project students will establish a system to raise trout eggs in the classroom for later release into the local environment. They will design, evaluate, and refine a solution for reducing the impacts of human activities on the environment and biodiversity.

Bolivar Road Elementary School, PI: Melissa Biviano – $ 4,777.00
Math for all Learners
Students with special needs currently make up 18.6% of the school’s population; these students have limited standards-based math resources available to help incorporate their multi-sensory needs. This project will utilize TouchMath to allow students to explore mathematical content through the use of multiple manipulatives and visuals, ultimately leading to students having the opportunity to reach their maximum potential.

Syracuse Latin School, PI: Krista Hunter – $5,000.00
Makerspace at Syracuse Latin
The purpose of this project is to create a Makerspace, a collaborative workspace where students can create, design, experiment, and develop ideas. This workspace will provide students a place where they can use their knowledge to invent ways to solve real world or imaginary problems, experiment with coding, robotics, or use no-tech tools to bring their ideas to life.

Syracuse Academy of Science, PI: Dr. Ugur Kocak – $4,500.00
Robotics Program
Syracuse Academy of Science Charter School, through its robotics program, offers students opportunities to learn the necessary skills and knowledge in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math to empower them and prepare them for college, career, and citizenship.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Elementary School, PI: Kimberly VanDuren – $3,266.60
Full STEAM Ahead at MLK
The purpose of this project is to deepen computational thinking practices for students in grades 5-6 through inquiry and project-based learning.

Watson Williams School, PI: DeAnne Dow – $5,000.00
Agriculture in and Out of the Classroom
Under this project, Special Education Students will grow fruits, vegetables, trees, and herbs for their cooking lessons for a hands-on learning environment where a broad range of abilities can work together and learn science, math, art, and literature while also learning important skills such as working in a group and project planning.

Utica Academy of Science, PI: Mustafa Kovar – $4,955.15
UASCS Atoms Robotics Program
This project will implement the robotics programs FLL and FTC with curriculum that integrates technology and engineering concepts into a grade appropriate STEM program to help inspire and prepare a new generation of engineering and computer science professionals.

Frederick Leighton Elementary, PI: James Hartmann – $4,037.65
Science Inquiry and Application at the Elementary Level
This project is designed to deepen problem solving skills for students in Kindergarten through Sixth Grade through science labs, science experiments, and extra-curricular science explorations.

Gate-Chili High School, PI: Jared Starbird – $4,894.00
STEM Project PRIDE
This project is will use a laser engraver and logo design software to teach trades to English Language Learners and/or poverty-stricken students while also strengthening the student’s excitement and pride in the work they are creating. The ultimate objective of this project is to improve the graduation rate of ELL and poverty-stricken students.

Belfast Central School, PI: Joshua Hazelton – $5,000.00
Ready for Robotics
Within this project, Belfast Central will create STEM programming for students in grades 3-12 by expanding curriculum and extra-curricular activities for students using robotic technology to give them the opportunity to learn by doing!

Westminster Economic Development Initiative, Inc. (WEDI), PI: Benjamin Bissell – $5,000.00
WEDI English-Language Learner After School Capacity Building
The Project seeks to expand long-term capacity of the ENERGY and FLY afterschool programs through classroom technology and equipment to empower English-language learners to acquire comprehension and fluency to attain parity with native English-speaking peers.

CiTi BOCES, PI: William Jones – $4,963.91
Summer STEAM Enrichment Programs
The purpose of this project is to expand opportunities for ‘learning by doing’ in the field of robotics for students in grades 3-12 by lowering program costs to our districts so that they can further support learning outside of the K-12 school calendar as part of the Summer STEAM Enrichment Programs. CiTi BOCES will add new youth STEAM enrichment courses to existing summer offerings to provide Oswego County students new engaging STEAM and career related activities.

Suffolk County Marine Environment Learning Center at Cornell University, PI: Tracy Marcus – $2,872
SCMELC TouchTank Room & Classroom Experience Upgrade
The goal of this project is to reach as many Suffolk County residents as possible so that we may foster environmental stewardship in the youth of Long Island. Equipment will be purchased to upgrade the freshwater and saltwater aquarium tank room which houses all of their live program animals and to create a local shark tank for chained dogfish.

Frederick Leighton Elementary School, PI: James Hartman – $5,000
STEM Centers at the Intermediate Level
This project is designed to deepen problem solving skills for students in grades 4 through 6 through project based learning through conducting student selected projects and heterogeneous grouping in a variety of domains for thirty minutes each day.

Binghamton University, PI: Shannon Hilliker -$15,000
English Language Development Instruction in Elementary Grades
The project follows a design experiment methodology in order to take into account the complexity of the classroom, afford collaboration, and accommodate interpretations and adaptations of an instructional practice (Bradley & Reinking, 2010)

University at Buffalo, PI: Dr. Janina Brutt-Griffler – $14,773
Best Practices in the Dual Language Curricula: Young English Language Learners in Urban Schools
This study is an extension of the research project that began in fall 2015 and fas focused on identifying some of the best practices and variables that impact how schools address the academic achievement gap among English language learners on an urban school.

SANY Schools – $20,000
Teacher Recruitment
Terra Science is familiar with SANY Charter Schools, their programs and personnel, and knows their programs to be of excellent quality; and SANY Charter Schools have a consistent need to recruit and retain high qualified teachers for its various schools and it has requested a grant from Terra Science to defray the cost of recruiting teachers.

Terra Science will provide a grant support in the amount of $20,000 per academic year, on need basis, to SANY Charter Schools for the following recruitment costs; newspaper and radio advertisements, participation in job fairs, advertisements or postings on websites specific to employee recruitment, government agencies filing fees, and related expenses.

Syracuse Latin School, PI: Kelly Manard – $4,398.96
Robotics Program
The Syracuse Latin school is working to expose students at an early age to the engineering and design process through its robotics program. To encourage students to continue into a STEM related career in the future, students will examine the various careers associated with the design, construction, and programming of robots in the 21st century and beyond. The Syracuse Latin School is part of the Syracuse City School District.

SUNY Oswego Extended Learning, PI: Tammy Anderson- $4,938.40
Engaging Creative Minds – Robotics Courses
The purpose of this project is to add youth robotics courses to a set of fun and creative academic offerings that were piloted in the summer of 2015. Engaging Creative Minds offers a model for engaging students (grades 2-16) in voluntary, creative, project-based learning experiences.

Syracuse Academy of Science Charter School, PI: Omer Zengin – $3,500
Robotics Team Atoms
Syracuse Academy of Science Charter School, through its robotics program, offers students opportunities to learn the necessary skills and knowledge in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math to empower them and prepare them for college, career, and citizenship.

Syracuse University, PI: Zaline Roy-Campbell – $6,108
The Use of Translanguaging with Adolescent English Language Learners in a Sheltered Science Classroom
This research will examine the use of translanguaging (students’ use of their home language to assist them in learning academic content in English) in a Syracuse high school sheltered science classroom. It will investigate how a teacher of English language learners (ELLs), who is co-teaching with a science teacher in a Living Environment class, facilitates translanguaging in the classroom.

University at Buffalo, PI: Dr. Janina Brutt-Griffler – $8,974
Best Practices in the Dual Language Curriculum among bilingual and ELLs in Grade 6
The purpose of this research is to uncover effective teaching methodologies around bilingual ELA/NLA instruction in 6th grade which can be empirically linked to student learning outcomes. Researchers will examine an innovative, teacher implemented 50/50 program at Herman Badillo Bilingual Academy, and urban school with one of the largest Hispanic ELL population in Buffalo, NY.

Cornell University, PI: Lora Hine – $15,000
The “E” in STEM: Making Engineering Evident in Elementary Schools
The Making Engineering Evident Program will provide a team of urban elementary educators with high quality professional growth and development experiences along with access to the resources and materials necessary to teach engineering design. Teachers will be provided with the opportunity to enhance content knowledge and skills necessary to successfully integrate science and engineering practices into their classrooms.

The project director, Lora Hine, manager of Xraise, is the education and public outreach program at the Cornell Laboratory for Accelerator-based Sciences and Education (CLASSE), a NSF-funded research facility at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY. Xraise will be working in collaboration with Dr. Susan Eschbach, principal of the Beverly J. Martin (BJM) Elementary School, and the second/third grade teacher teams at BJM Elementary School. Beverly J. Martin is located in Ithaca, NY and is part of the Ithaca City School District.

Terra Science Fair Grant
($1,000 – Due October 1st of the year)

Goal:
Terra provides $1,000 grants geared towards improving or starting a local school-based science and engineering fair to promote STEM education in schools.

Award Details:
School science fairs grants must be used towards organizing a local science and engineering fairs for students in grades 7-12. Selected students are eligible for advancement to the Terra Fairs serving their counties.

Eligible Applicants:
Applicants must be part of a school or educational organization located in one of the following counties in New York State:

Akwesasne, Chemung, Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Livingston, Monroe, Ontario, Schuyler, Seneca, St. Lawrence, Steuben, Wayne, Yates

Note: Terra Fairs Fellows are not eligible for School Fairs Grants.

Apply:
Applications are due October 1st of the year. Download and fill out the application form and email it to [email protected].

As a friend of SANY Schools, Terra provides special grant programs for SANY Schools and students. Terra leases below the market rate (usually $5-8/sqf) school buildings to SANY Schools and provides additional supports as detailed below to support its mission.

Summer SAT Camp Grant:
Annually, Terra provides $5,000 to Science Academies of New York Schools (SANY) to organize a free summer SAT camp for its students. SANY students are highly diverse: 75% or higher are free-reduced lunch eligible. Around 58% are African American, 29% White, 9% Asian (mostly New American), and 4% Hispanic. SANY will organize the summer camp and announce it to its students.

High Quality Teacher Recruitment Grant:
Annually, Terra provides $20,000 to Science Academies of New York Schools (SANY) to recruit highly qualified teachers, especially STEM teacher. There is a significant need of high-quality STEM teachers in US, especially in the CNY region.

Special SANY Grants:
Terra provides short term grants to SANY Schools as a need arises. Such grant included, breakfast support for Utica Academy Elementary School, College Visit support for Utica Academy High School, after-school activity support for Utica Academy Middle and High School, school fair award support for Syracuse Academy Middle Schools, and performance based salary award support (for three years) for Utica Academy Schools.

Total SANY Grants and Scholarships:
  • 2019 Terra Scholarships and Grants given to SANY Schools: $84,983.69 (Grants: $49,483.69; Scholarships: $35,500)
  • 2018 Terra Scholarships and Grant given to SANY Schools: $84,365.88 (Grants: $55,690.88; Scholarships: $28,675)
  • 2017 Terra Scholarships and Grant given to SANY Schools: $53,597.76 (Grants: $31,572.76; Scholarships: $22,025)

Capital Improvements at SANY Schools:
Terra, even though rents its building below the market rate, continues to improve its school buildings to reduce the operational cost of the buildings for the schools and to create a better educational environment for the students without increasing its rental rate. Here are the few recent capital improvements:
  • 2020: ~ $800K for New SASCitizenship HVAC system, New SASCitizenship Gym windows, new SASHS storage roof, and new insulated SAS-High School Gym roof, and free land for UAS-ES/MS future site.
  • 2019: ~ $400K for New insulated SASCitizenship roof, etc.
  • 2018: ~ 700K for SASCitizenship Flooring, new SAS-Middle School HVAC system, new SAS-High School water pipe, etc.
  • 2017: ~ 750K for renovations at SASCitizenship school.