The SEF grant process provides an opportunity for all Sycamore Community School District 427 teachers, administrators, and students to apply for SEF funds to enhance learning.
Your grant application will be reviewed by the District Cabinet and the SEF Grants committee and added to the agenda of the next grant review night if approved. If you have any questions, please contact SEF Executive Director, Rachel Sauber at rachelsauber@sycamoresef.org or 815.899.8264.
Please note the following guidelines prior to submitting your grant:
- You must seek approval from your building administrator and the appropriate district administrator prior to submitting your grant application.
- Grants are not awarded for salaries, travel, consumables, curriculum materials, assessment items, ongoing or recurrent licenses or subscriptions.
- SEF will fund technology enhancements as long as they are tied to a new and innovative program for District 427. All technology grants must have prior approval from the Director of Instructional Technology.
- SEF will support same-subject proposals, from different parties, for up to two years. After that point in time it is at the discretion of the district to provide funding to support the initiative.
- You may only serve as the lead author for one grant proposal per year.
- Grant recipients may not repeat awarded requests.
- If your grant request exceeds $1,500, you are required to give a 5-10 minute presentation showcasing your grant opportunity during the grant review night and answer any questions from the SEF Board. If your grant is below $1,500 you are not required to attend the grant review night, but all grant applicants are welcomed and encouraged to present.
- A post-grant meeting with the SEF Executive Director must be scheduled at least 6 months after funds have been distributed.
- Materials provided by the grant become the property of the school where the grant originated and not the property of any individual or group.
- Unused project funds after one calendar year will go back to the general grant making fund of SEF.
- The Sycamore Education Foundation Board of Directors reserves the right to make amendments to these guidelines at any time.
All grant recipients are encouraged to post on Facebook, Twitter and/or Instagram with a photo or the grant and tag @SycamoreSEF.
Grant Proposal Deadlines
SEF Office Deadline:
Monday, February 10, 2025 — Please submit Google form with all grant information by this date.
Present at SEF Grant Meeting: Monday, February 24, 2025, 6:00 p.m. at the Administration Building. Reminder: all grant requests exceeding $1,500 must present at the meeting, however, all applicants are invited to present.
Grant funding is available thanks to the generosity of the community. In addition to SEF fundraisers each year such as Take Root and SEF Trivia Night, grants are made possible by:
Bernice Kendall Memorial Fund for Women’s Athletics
Beulah and Roberta Hackett Fund
Marion Elliot Sycamore High School Fund
Jeri Delaney Memorial Fund
NIU Athletics Fund for Elementary Education
View previous SEF Grants:
South Prairie Elementary School was awarded $1,497.69 to turn a previously unused courtyard into a reading garden complete with hammocks and specialized seating.
The World Language program at Sycamore High School was awarded $2,120.00 to purchase novels in the target language which increases knowledge of vocabulary, increases context clues, and exposes students to other cultures.
The Sycamore Middle School Video Production studio was awarded $4,208.43 to purchase a new switcher and control panel for the students to use during 7th and 8th grade video production classes. This new equipment better aligns with what is being used in the next level classes at Sycamore High School and will enhance the capabilities middle school students have for video editing and recording.
The third and fourth grade classrooms at South Prairie Elementary School were awarded $1,56.10 to purchase a collection of John Newbery Medal finalist books. Students will be able to check out books to read at home and will form book clubs in the classroom to discuss titles they have read and hold a mock election for the Newberry Medal. Books will then be added to classroom libraries and will be available to students for the remainder of the school year.
The Softball program was awarded $13, 594 to replace the batting cages at their current field located at Sycamore High School. When previous plans for a new diamond were put on a permanent hold, the current field was upgraded and conditions have been much improved. Thanks to the Bernice Kendall Fund for Women’s Athletics, SEF is proud to provide funds to continue to add to that improvement with the new cages.
Mrs. McCormick’s class at North Grove Elementary School will be writing in style with their new Boogie Board Tablets! These are alternatives to white boards and dry erase markers that cut down on waste and erase with just the touch of a button.
The Sycamore High School girls track team was awarded $2,199 to purchase a timing chip system to use for practice. This grant was made possible by the Bernice Kendall Fund for Women’s Athletics.
The Sycamore Middle School Library received $10,000 to purchase non-fiction titles for the collection. Recently, over 1,600 items had to be retired due to condition and outdated content. This grant will build a foundation to begin replacing those books and add more current subject matters.
The Southeast 5th grade classes were awarded $460.57 for novels for all 5th grade classrooms. By having the same titles available for all students, classes will be able to participate in discussions to analyze and compare different genres and topics.
The SHS English I team was awarded $1,859.04 to purchase noise-cancelling headphones with microphones so students can learn at their own pace in the classroom with minimal distractions.
South Prairie Elementary School was awarded $462.93 to purchase a 3-D Printer for their STEAM space. Students will be able to design objects using software and observe the designs being printed on site.
South Prairie Elementary School was awarded $1,500 to supply a book room with updated, current, high-interest non-fiction titles.
West Elementary School was awarded $4,800 to improve the courtyard so that students and staff can utilize the space for brain breaks, fresh air stimulation, and movement. The courtyard will include both play-based activities for younger students and sitting areas.
Spartan TV Jr. was awarded $1704.95 to purchase a mobile podcasting kit for internet radio. This equipment will allow students to explore exciting and creative ways to communicate with an audience that may inspire them in their future career paths.
South Prairie Elementary School was awarded $6,929.29 to create a STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Mathematics) Lab. This space can be used by classes or items can be checked out and used by teachers in their classrooms. STEAM spaces provide mew ad different learning options for students and exposes them to potential new areas of interest.
Mrs. Kerlin at North Grove was awarded $577.89 in grant funds to purchase a 3D printer. The printer will be used by both 4th and 5th grade students who will design on a three-dimensional plane using the program TinkerCad. The students will use problem solving to determine stability and strength, and practice using the metric system with their designs. Younger students will be able to observe the designs being printed. Congratulations!
The Out of School Care (OSCAR) program received a $658.02 grant to purchase social-emotional books for read-alouds during OSCAR and OSCAR Jr. These books will empower students and demonstrate appropriate ways to have conversations about diversity as well as reinforce empathy, respect, and equality–three of the District’s core values. Congratulations to the OSCAR program!
SEF Grants are made possible by donations from generous donors and community partners.
The 4th Grade Team and Tech Department at North Grove Elementary School was granted $474.04 to create a podcasting booth in the technology lab. The booth will be used by students to record podcasts that will help community building, social emotional learning, and amplify students’ voices. The booth will be available for other classrooms at North Grove who would like to try podcasting as well. Congratulations!
SEF Grants are made possible by generous donations from private donors and community partners.
Congratulations to the Sycamore Middle School ABLE Program for receiving $755.85 to purchase a coffee cart so students can prepare and sell beverages to staff at SMS. Danielle Klinger, ABLE teacher, explained that the cart will aid in teaching students about money, budgeting, grocery shopping, further integrate students within their school and give them important roles and a sense of belonging. Congrats to the ABLE program!
SEF Grants are made possible by generous donations from both private donors and community partners.
The Sycamore High School Softball Team received a $10,000 grant to aid in the construction of dugouts for their new field. Jill Carpenter, head coach, said in her grant proposal: “There is a lot of failure and growth that comes with playing sports and being involved on a team. The fact that we will get the play on [a new] diamond is going to invigorate our group with a whole new level of pride in our program and themselves.” This grant was made possible by the Bernice Kendall Memorial Fund for Women’s Athletics.
Mrs. Copeland with the Little Spartans Early Learning program was awarded $1,434.47 to purchase a dramatic play center for her classroom. She said in her grant proposal, “[The dramatic play center] will continue to foster a love of learning from a young age, creative play that encourages individuality, drama, connection between home and school environments that fosters a sense of family.” Congratulations to Mrs. Copeland and Little Spartans!
SEF Grants are made possible by generous donations from both private donors and community partners.
The Sycamore High School welding program received a $4,400 grant to purchase welding uniforms. Mr. Thurwanger, welding instructor, hopes that having upgraded uniforms will help foster a passion for the growing sector of welding in the trades industry. Congratulations to Mr. Thurwanger and the welding programs at SHS!
SEF Grants are made possible by generous donations from private donors and community partners.
The Sycamore Middle School Art Department received a $1,456 grant to purchase iPads and iPencils for their program. Kelli Meserole (not pictured) and Katherine Katz said in their proposal, “Having iPads allows for all students to utilize their talents by having the opportunity to use a digital platform for artmaking and digitizing their work.” We can’t wait to see what they create! Congratulations!
SEF Grants are made possible by generous donations from both private donors and community partners.
West Elementary School received a $5,000 grant to replace, replenish, and refresh the inventory in the library. Pictured is grant author Jessica Spartz, who said “Having a larger collection of books with more diverse characters that focus on topics to promote social emotional learning will help get more books in the hands of students, as well as help them to feel more welcome within their school setting.” Congratulations, Jessica!
SEF Grants are made possible by generous donations from both private donors and community partners.
Mr. Choragwicki and Mrs. Kolzow at Southeast Elementary School received $371.40 to purchase a set of books for a novel study. The book is “A Long Walk to Water” and 5th grade students this year and in future years will benefit from this grant. Congratulations to the 5th grade team at Southeast!
SEF Grants are made possible by generous donations from both private donors and community partners.
Nicole Cabral of Southeast School received $592.11 to purchase games for her classroom that can be checked out and brought home. These games will aid students in learning basic reading and math concepts as well as social emotional learning.
Greg D’Addario and the TV Production Students we awarded $8,530.38 to purchase new lights, audio and camera equipment for the Spartan TV program. This grant was made possible by The Munter Fund.
Heather Porter was awarded $301.99 to purchase Hallway Chats–poster sized pictures that can be used to help build vocabulary and concepts in early education students to help support them in the classroom.
Jennifer Brannstrom was awarded $3,338.58 to purchase permanent outdoor basketball hoops at the Sycamore Middle School. These hoops will not only be used for P.E. classes but will be available for students after school and on the weekends.
West Elementary School
Mrs. Ihm received $1,272.99 to purchase social-emotional books for her classroom. This grant provides our students the opportunity to work through social and emotional topics through the use of fun books.
Sycamore High School
Mrs. Zucker and Mrs. Koehne received $1,040 in grant funding to purchase graphing calculators. Many students do not have access to a calculator to complete their work. By providing these tools for classroom use, SEF is helping to provide an equal opportunity for all students to achieve success.
All Elementary Schools
Lisa Winters, Instructional Math Coach, received $584.33 in grant funding to purchase math literature. She supports all the elementary schools within Sycamore Community School District 427 so there are a large number of students who will benefit from these books.
Southeast Elementary School
Southeast Elementary School received $1,500 in grant funding from SEF. Mrs. Cabral, Mrs. Henson, Mrs. Mallar and Mrs. Middleton submitted a grant for a shared reading book library to support their kindergarten and 1st grade classrooms. Their goal is to extend reading comprehension and teach higher level thinking during shared reading time with these new books.
West Elementary School
Elisa Rubeck and Jolene Ward of West Elementary School received $1,405.13 in SEF grant funding to purchase new texts for their libraries. As reading specialists, they recognized a need for more diverse, inclusive and social emotional learning (SEL) picture books to enrich their program. These books will be used as a springboard for discussions and as mentor texts for learning about other cultures and will be housed in the Book Room where they will be available to all staff and grade levels.
Southeast Elementary School
Jonathan Walters, fourth grade teacher at Southeast Elementary School, received $1,477 in grant funding to purchase Apple technology to support a 3D printer in his classroom. Mr. Walters wrote a separate grant to 3M which was fully funded to purchase a Dremel Digilab 3D printer.
South Prairie Elementary School
Tracy Minnihan, Reading Specialist at South Prairie Elementary School, received $1,303.75 in grant funding to purchase decodable books for students. These new and engaging texts will be available for all staff in the building to use. These books can be offered to students who may require lower level texts, but want to read books that look like the ones their peers are reading.
Sycamore Middle School
Liz Peterson and Jodi Gudewicz received $2,574.94 in SEF grant funding to purchase Little Bit Electronics Kits and Sphero RVR Robot packs to support G-Force Club, which focuses on empowering young women to grow, learn, and succeed in the fields of STEM.
Sycamore High School
Lee Zucker and Marion Kneiling received a grant for classroom updates including furniture and sensory supplies for students for the ABLE program.
Third grade teachers, Kelsi Boltz and Kyla Hueber, received an SEF grant to purchase shared alternative/flexible seating options for their classroom.
Southeast Elementary School
Second grade teacher, Mary Strohm, and literacy facilitator, Holly Majerus received SEF funding for guided reading books to better support their students.
Southeast, South Prairie and West Elementary Schools
Katie Davis received SEF funding to support garden classroom programs within third grade throughout select elementary schools in the Sycamore School District.
South Prairie Elementary School
Third grade teacher, Kim Zeitler, received SEF funding to purchase character studies through series books for her classroom.
OSCAR
SEF has provided funding for the Sycamore School District’s Out of School Care Program (OSCAR). These funds will go toward purchasing sensory items that will assist students requiring special accommodations.
West Elementary School
SEF has provided funding for makerspace items that will benefit the entire school. Items include classroom sets of Knex, Magna Tiles, Snap Circuits, Legos, Zoob, etc.
Sycamore High School
SHS teacher, Christian Thurwanger, received funds from SEF to support the Agriculture/CTE Department. The funds will purchase drones so that students can learn how they could use these devices in their future careers within industries such as construction, surveying, forestry and agriculture.
Sycamore High School
SHS teacher, Annette Keca, received funding from SEF to purchase equipment to support the SparTECHus IT Help Desk program which services the Chromebook computers throughout the Sycamore School District.
Sycamore Middle School
The STEM/CTE Department at the SMS received 15 Sphero Bolt Robots and 8 iPads to support all 6th grade students enrolled in STEM: Engineering and after school clubs. These devices are designed to inspire curiosity, creativity, and invention through coding. This technology will help students to foster a love of robotics and STEAM principles… all through play.
Sycamore Middle School
Each 6th grade classroom received three standing desks. The students have greatly appreciated having the opportunity to learn in a non-traditional style. Standing has proven to be an effective way to improve memory and focus, and research shows that classroom standing desks can also enhance cognitive skills and improve test scores.
Sycamore Middle School
The seventh grade population for years to come will benefit from diverse books funded through a grant provided by SEF. Using literature as a tool, the novels purchased have created an opportunity for students to talk about race, ethnicity, gender, identification, sexual orientation, and disability in a transformative way.
North Grove Elementary School
All 1st grade classrooms received five new iPads for the students to share. The addition of the new iPads for each classroom has created a 1 iPad per 3 student ratio. While using the Seesaw application, students can practice their reading fluency, math skills and knowledge, storytelling/summarizing, and more. The students work collaboratively on this app to share their knowledge and understanding with teachers as well as parents.
South Prairie Elementary School
Students need opportunities to explore, design, build and innovate. South Prairie is excited to start their first markerspace, hands-on area. K’nex, Legos, Strawbees “Crazy Scientist Kit” and more will being included.
Southeast Elementary School
Students will walk, hop, skip and jump through a series of physical activities with carefully placed floor stickers in the gym hallway. The goal is to help students stay calm and regulate their bodies while at school.
Southeast Elementary School
The lego wall is planned to be placed in the kindergarten hallway to be used by all three kindergarten classrooms at Southeast. This will be in addition and to enhance their already existing maker’s space.
Sycamore Middle School
The router kit, bits and milling materials will be used for a variety of different projects within each of the STEM/CTE course and after school clubs at the middle school. The machine provides students with another resource when creating solutions to their problem-based learning tasks.
Sycamore High School
The Science Department at Sycamore High School will be updating some of the physics equipment to utilizing the Modeling Method of physics instruction, align experiments and activities and increate the use of technology in the physics classroom with this new equipment.
Sycamore Middle School
“Acquiring meditation and mindfulness equipment for our students directly supports the Relationships Sphere’s exit learner outcomes which aim to create “a person who values relationships and balances life’s commitments” as outlined in the district’s Strategic Design Plan. Through meditation, students can briefly unplug from their surrounding and help gain a clearer understanding of themselves and their life while creating balance in the process.”
Sycamore High School
The apps available for the iPad cover a wide range of speech and language disorder interventions. These will allow teachers to model and work one-on-one with students successfully with the the new iPad technology.
North Elementary School
This grant is part of the larger library redesign. New shelving, tables, chairs, circulation equipment, lounge seating, and upgraded technology (computer) lab are part of the renovation. The goal is to provide a safe, positive learning environment for the students and the community.
Sycamore Middle School
Well-designed history books that provide short, concise, and colorful information that is engaging to the 6th graders at the Middle School.
West Elementary School
The use of this technology provides engaging interactive lessons of places all over the world. It’s taking a field trip without leaving the school.
Sycamore High School
Yoga straps and bolsters to use during Physical Education classes. Health and wellness is the foundation for success, benefitting the Sycamore students for the future by learning calming techniques, body awareness and more.
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Providing adjustable height open front desks with swinging foot rest to meet the needs of student with active learning styles.
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South Prairie Elementary
Providing Specialized bikes and safety equipment that is easily customized for each child and provides optimal learning and motor skills development.
All Elementary Schools
Grant by Barresi Family- in honor of Victor, former SEF board member. victorA generous donation from the Barresi family to honor Victor. One District, One Book – This year all five elementary schools are participating in the second One District, One Book in which all families will receive the same book during the first week in March. The schools have organized events including book fairs, daily trivia, and community participation.
Sycamore Middle School
Utilizing wearable heart rate monitor technology to provide instant feedback to students regarding their heart rate zone and perceived exertion in activity.
Southeast Elementary
Improving reading skill and fluency for first and second grade students. This is accomplished by providing high quality take home books that can be taught in the class and brought home for repeated readings to build fluency.
Sycamore High School
Mobile art displays for the entire district to utilize. Initial use was the 2017 Conference Art Contest hosted by Sycamore.
Sycamore High School
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