In 2013, I received a grant from the Education Minnesota Foundation for Excellence in Teaching and Learning. The grant paid for my attendance at the Professional and Organizational Development (POD) Network in Higher Education conference, which allowed me to present to my peers in educational development on the progress of the Teaching and Learning Project. That April, I had visited Caltech to further the project and I co-presented on the Teaching and Learning Project with my colleague, Cassandra Horii, director of Caltech’s Center for Teaching, Learning, & Outreach.

Last weekend, I attended the Education Minnesota Representative Convention, where I had the opportunity to share the results of my grant with fellow grantees in an organized “circle talk” and present on the Teaching and Learning Project to Education Minnesota delegates. The circle talk was especially amazing, as I got to hear results of grant-funded projects from K-12 instructors as well as fellow Minnesota State Colleges and Universities faculty members. Projects ranged from helping K-12 classroom paraprofessionals receive the training necessary to work with special needs students to college faculty attending conferences to present on institution-wide program assessment.

If you are a Minnesota educator and working in K-12 or the MnSCU system, I strongly encourage you to apply for a Foundation grant in the next round.