Education

Foundation Offers New Grants For Rural Districts

By Diette Courrégé Casey — January 09, 2012 1 min read
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Rural school districts can apply for $10,000 and $25,000 grants to support science and/or math programs, thanks to an expansion of the America’s Farmers Grow Rural Education program.

The 199 grants will be offered to rural districts in 39 states by the Monsanto Fund, which is the philanthropic arm of the Monsanto Company. Their business produces agricultural and vegetable seeds, plant biotechnology traits and crop protection chemicals and is headquartered in St. Louis, Mo. The nonprofit is dedicated to strengthening the farm communities where farmers and Monsanto Company employees live and work.

“We believe our rural communities are the heart of America,” said Deborah Patterson, Monsanto Fund president, in a news release. “We want to help strengthen local communities and education systems, especially in the areas of science and/or math.”

The program started with a pilot in Illinois and Minnesota, and the Monsanto Fund already has awarded more than $266,000 to local schools in those states. You can see the winning projects here.

The America’s Farmers Grow Rural Education program gives farmers the opportunity to nominate a public school district in their rural community to compete for a grant. Nominated school district administrators can submit an application for either a $10,000 or $25,000 grant to support a science and/or math educational program by April 30.

The Monsanto Fund will donate more than $2.3 million through the expanded program. To see a complete list of eligible states or regions, go here.

A version of this news article first appeared in the Rural Education blog.