2022 Miry's List Grant Proposal Project

    While the Global Scholars Program focuses on providing an interdisciplinary experience through various unique experiences like travel abroad and hosting school-wide events, the most transformative opportunity for me has been the second semester grant proposal project. Initially, it was a daunting task; to become deeply involved with a nonprofit organization, to identify a need within their program and provide a creative solution, and to construct and present the grant in front of a panel of judges, but while it was not simple, I developed a genuine interest in pursuing the project and became fully invested in the impact that the grant would have. Another reason that the grant was such an amazing opportunity was because we had the freedom to choose the organization that we would center our project around. I had recently become interested in issues of immigration, and by a stroke of luck another student in the class had been volunteering at Miry's List, which helps recent immigrants in their process of resettlement. We researched ways we could impact individual families in the organization and settled on their S.A.N.A.H. (Serving American Newcomers at Home) program.

    S.A.N.A.H. is an English learning initiative that provides a virtual education for younger students already served by Miry's List. My project partner had already been involved as a tutor in this program, and could provide informed insight into how S.A.N.A.H. functioned. This, along with the assistance of the program organizers made the process of developing a proposal very smooth. Ultimately, we suggested purchasing each individual student both a tablet and a project crate in order to assist with their learning and providing some variety in the materials available to them. For us it was important that the children developed a genuine interest in their education and had as positive of an experience in their classes as possible. We knew it was incredibly difficult to stay motivated online as we ourselves had experienced distance learning for about two years, and couldn't imagine the added stress of a language barrier and the relocation process. Then, once our written proposal was complete, all that was left was to present it to the panel of judges that would review our grants. 

    After their deliberation, we received the entire amount requested and will be able to carry out our grant in its entirety. When reflecting on the amount of time and effort invested into this process, I am pleased to say that it has all been worth it and I hope that our contributions are felt by the families over at S.A.N.A.H.

Link to written proposal : 

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-4UQ8rRf57tTmBR1xPg1Lsn767YVO51P-XbmNLXBTmE/edit?usp=sharing