Nonprofit Awards Grants For Port Jefferson School Programs

Students in the classrooms of four Port Jefferson School District teachers will have the opportunity to enhance their learning experience this school year thanks to a grant from the Royal Educational Foundation, a nonprofit that supports programs for the district.

Subjects for the programs include environmental studies, astronomy and fitness. According to Adam Scopin, a trustee for the Foundation, all four teachers who applied for the grants this year received them. A total of $1,900 in grants were awarded. Scopin said that the Royal Educational Foundation has raised and donated grants in excess of $150,000 over the years.

For one of the grants, Kristi Krieg was awarded $560 for her proposed program to bring a portable planetarium to the school from the Vanderbilt Planetarium. In another, Dinarae Squatriglia received $320 for pulse monitor equipment to be purchased for her program titled, “Fitness for a Lifetime.” Darlene Wells was given $420 by the Foundation for a wireless weather station and Jonathan Malettaa won $550 for a NOAA Plankton Monitoring Network program.

The presentation of the grants was made in conjunction with the Superintendent Conference Day held at the high school on Aug. 29.

When grants are available, requests are submitted to the Royal Educational Foundation by June for the next school year. Deadline exceptions are sometimes made for programs when information isn’t available before the June date. Grants are typically awarded at the Superintendent Conference in August.

The Foundation is seeking applications for the 2013-14 school year. The deadline for submission is June 10, 2013. According to a statement released by the Foundation, the grants are awarded for innovative and creative educational programming with the district. Teachers, administrators and community members are encouraged to apply. For more information, visit the Royal Educational Foundation’s website.