cRUCES
CREATIVES

The Cruces Creatives Classroom Mini-Grant 

The Cruces Creatives Classroom Mini-Grant, for Las Cruces public schools during the 2023 - 2024 school year, is to fund classroom projects and events in conjunction with Cruces Creatives' CommunityShare Las Cruces platform.

The Cruces Creatives Classroom Mini-Grant offers funding to K-12 educators in Las Cruces public schools to engage their students with a project or event with community partners.

A partner could be an artist, STEM expert, parent, retiree, nonprofit, local business, government employee, university staff/student, etc. Grant funds can be used for materials, equipment, compensation for community partners, and other expenses related to community engagement.

We encourage applications that:

•  Involve teachers, students and community partners working together on “real-world” projects

•  Engage multiple community partners from different disciplines, particularly the arts and STEM

•  Involve a community partner over multiple sessions (vs "one-off" engagements)

•  Include opportunities for student agency/student-driven projects

•  Create collaboration among teachers

Timeline

Applications are now being accepted for the '23/24 school year

• Applications are accepted and evaluated on a rolling basis and at the sole discretion of Cruces Creatives.
• Submit applications at least 4 weeks before the planned project start date.

Eligibility

• The applicant must be an active Las Cruces public school instructor or educational staff member
• The funds must be for Las Cruces public classroom students (clubs, extracurricular activities, and sports groups are not eligible)
• The applicant must have an active and completed CommunityShare Las Cruces profile
• There must be a project description (a "Project" or "Event") posted on CommunityShare Las Cruces
• The project must be to serve the educational or informational growth of students
• There must be an identified community partner for the project
• The community partner/s must be on CommunityShare Las Cruces and have completed their profile/s
• The community partner must agree to meet in-person or over a live video with students at least once per the amount of classroom mini-grants applied for 
• The project must fit within the '23/24 school year
• The application must be submitted at least 4 weeks prior to the project date
• The proposed budget must be less than or equal to $500 x the number of classrooms involved in the project. Projects applications may request up to $1,500 if there are at least 3 classrooms involved. (Aka 1 classroom = a max budget of $500; 2 classrooms = max budget of $1,000; 3+ classrooms = a max budget of $1,500).
• The applicant must agree to reporting on results, capturing photographs (at least 5) during the project or event, submitting results and photographs into CommunityShare Las Cruces, and finalizing projects through CommunityShare Las Cruces. (Please capture photos and share results on the platform to help us maintain relationships with our funders and improve possibilities for future funding.)
• The application must be completed in its entirety
• If a previous classroom mini-grant awardee, all previous reports must be completed
• Review the Eligibility Checklist

Disallowable Expenses

The below items should not be requested.**

Busing
Entry fees / field trip costs	Exceptions can be made when other funding sources have been exhausted
Toys / giftcards / prizes
Promotional materials	Funding can be used to buy materials for students to make their own materials
Pre-made objects, unless tied to an activity	It is better for students to build their own objects whenever possible
Guns or weapons	Includes no field trips to places to use guns or weapons
Sponsor fees / IDC for fairs
Marketing for events run by adults
Trampoline / bounce house	Or other risky activities or materials
Non-project clothing
Furniture	Tables, chairs, cabinets, etc
Alcoholic beverages
No explosives or fireworks
Travel expenses*	*Can be included as part of a speaker's fee
Kits*	*Only allowed if a community partner is directly tied to the use of the kit for the project
Food*	*May be allowed for special projects and if special funding is available. Please ask the Cruces Creatives team ahead of time.
Speaker Fees*	*Unless an activity or project is connected to the speakers' topic

**Depending on the project, exceptions may be allowed. Please ask.

Cruces Creatives reserves the sole discretion to disallow any material or project.

Other Considerations

• If a community partner participates as a guest speaker, please ensure that they are approved by your administrator.
• Please ensure that you have a district photo release form signed for each student involved in your project. If permission is not given, please exclude that student from photos.
• When a mini-grant is determined to be eligible, applications will be scored to determine feasibility and impacts. View the Scoring Matrix. 
• Once an application is approved, the Cruces Creatives CommunityShare team will work with you to purchase materials and/or contract for services. We purchase materials and services, and manage deliveries to save you time.

We encourage educators to work with a community partner to collaboratively plan and write the grant. The teacher must do the actual submission.

If multiple instructors are working together for a larger project, instructors can submit one application. Please make sure to list all instructors and all community partners. Each instructor with an individual class can each qualify for $500, so 2 instructors can submit an application for $1,000, 3+ instructors can submit an application for $1,500. Please make sure all instructors and community partners are on the CommunityShare Las Cruces platform. Max funding for any one project is $1,500.

View mini-grant application examples.

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