Tuesday, December 14, 2010

BDPA Grant Disbursement Plan for American Honda Foundation Funds

BDPA Education and Technology Foundation (BETF) and the National BDPA VP-Member Services are pleased to announce the process by which the American Honda Foundation (AHF) funding will be distributed.

We are excited about this disbursement plan because it will leverage the American Honda Foundation funding to move our Student Information Technology Education & Scholarship (SITES) program forward in a number of ways.
  1. More students engaged in Saturday ‘computer camps’ (or whatever they are called at local level). These Saturday computer camps are the essence of our SITES program … we need to encourage their development and growth.  The successful 'best practice' in our Southern Minnesota chapter needs to be replicated around the nation.
  2. More BDPA chapters / volunteers engaged with elementary and middle school students. SITES is supposed to be K-12, however, we only seem to promote and reward efforts with 8th – 12th graders in the HSCC project. Can we get more energy, engagement and creativity in elementary and middle school programs?
  3. More BDPA engagement with HSCC alumni – This group of students are a wealth of talent and opportunity that BDPA has never really engaged with in the past. Can we get more engaged with HSCC alumni as promoters, volunteers, instructors, mentors, and so forth?
  4. Stronger participation in regional conferences – it seems that regionalization is a part of BDPA’s future. Can we leverage this AHF funding to get chapters to consider hosting or attending regional conferences?
  5. Stronger participation in national conference – Can we leverage this AHF funding to get more participation in YTC, IT Showcase and national HSCC championships in Chicago next year?
  6. Marketing and Documentation of past glories – Can we leverage this AHF funding to get more material about our current programs and our HSCC alumni at the local chapter level?
The other attractive component of this grant disbursement plan is that funds will flow on a quarterly basis culminating at the 2011 annual BDPA Technology Conference in Chicago. The plan requires chapter reporting to be completed on activity between January 1 – June 30, 2011. In addition we hope to give regular (monthly?) updates that will prod, encourage, motivate and cajole local chapter presidents to be more proactive in their SITES preparation and documentation.

Anyhow, this is our game-plan for disbursement of the funds. We should be reporting on the first winners within the next 30 days. Is your chapter giving out 2010 scholarships to 2010 High School Computer Competition (HSCC) alumni? Did you chapter send a representative to the annual HSCC coordinators' meeting held last month in Naples?

What say u?

1 comment:

Unknown said...

All - AHF grant funds were used to ensure that sufficient attention paid to review of the CY-2010 SITES program so that decisions can be made on the curriculum, guidelines and schedule for the CY-2011 SITES program.

A face-to-face meeting was held in Naples, FL in November 2010. This meeting benefited all BDPA students and chapters that will participate in the current SITES program. The students benefit because they participate in a STEM-based training program that is comprehensive, well organized, and provides them the opportunity to better prepare to participate in the workforce upon their graduation from college. The chapters benefit because they are provided guided learning tools and a curriculum that is consistent across all chapters, thereby providing their students with a common background that will assist them in preparing for the annual competition.

$240 was allocated to the following 10 chapters who provided leadership and volunteer hours on this annual strategic planning session. Those 10 chapters were: Baton Rouge, Charlotte, Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas, Detroit, Indianapolis, Southern Minnesota, Twin Cities and Washington DC.