Grant writing has never been considered a fun activity.

However, when the hard work pays off, spontaneous celebrations often ensue.

Three secondary schools within the Bartlesville Public School District – the Bartlesville Mid-High School and Central and Madison middle schools – were informed late last week that they had received a combined $70,000 worth of grants. Central and Madison were each approved for separate $25,000 Gateway to Technology grants – courtesy of the Oklahoma Department of Career and Technology Education - which will supplement programs which the respective schools initially implemented last year. The Mid-High chalked up a $20,000 grant from the Oklahoma State Department of Career Technology which will supply it with a mobile laptop computer lab which will aid the school's remediation and enrichment programs.

When technology instructor Darin Messerli, who spearheaded the grant-writing effort at Central, heard his school had been approved, his enthusiasm was unbridled.

“Darin said everyone in his house celebrated,” laughs Trudy Green, the BPSD director of federal programs. “They jumped up and down.”

Green initially learned that Central and Madison had been approved via an email from the Oklahoma Department of Career and Technology Education offices on the evening of Aug. 1. She soon passed the good word onto Messerli and Steve Nett, the technology instructor at Madison . Shortly thereafter, she learned the Mid-High had been approved for its $20,000 grant.

An Oklahoma Department of Career and Technology Education grant allowed the Gateway to Technology program to be implemented at both Central and Madison last year. Designed by educators as well as engineers, the program is a cutting-edge learning tool. Using top-end computer programming, it allows students to conceptualize, design and engineer a project. So whether they would like to learn how to build a car or a simple machine from the ground up, students can learn how to sketch it, design a 3D model of it and then build it. Gateway to Technology takes youngsters through the entire process from the very beginning.

When Central and Madison began utilizing the program last year, they were the first two schools in the state to offer Gateway to Technology at the middle school level.

The latest respective grants approved to Central and Madison will allow the schools to implement some of the missing facets of the Gateway to Technology program to the list of materials already being offered, such as “Design and Modeling,” “Magic of Electrons,” “Science of Technology,” “Automation and Robotics,” and “Aerospace and Flight.”

Also helping out with the grant writing process which led to the influx of $70,000 into the district were BPSD executive director of secondary education operations Janet Vernon, BPSD video conference coordinator Lois Howard, Mid-High principal Jason Langham, Mid-High counselors Elaine Gaut, Marsha Fouts and Diana Reed, and Green.

All three grants were supplemental and were due – via regular mail – in the respective offices of the grant assessors by July 1.

Green learned of the supplemental grants while attending a grant-writing seminar in Stillwater this summer. The subject of nine particular supplemental grants was brought up, and after some investigating, Green learned the BPSD was eligible to apply for eight of them.

“It's amazing that we got all three of these grants,” says Green. “The counselors and the teachers deserve a lot of the credit. They did this work over the summer, and they did it for the good of their schools.”

The Mid-High's grant will help students as they begin to think about life after high school. The program helps them put together portfolios through Oklahoma Career Information Services, whereby they can end up with their own college and career planners. The grant will allow for more professional development for the counselors so they can better guide the students.

“The counselors will now be better trained in career counseling,” says Green. “Also, the Mid-High will receive money to transport kids to the Rogers State University and Oklahoma Wesleyan University campuses. That will be nice as some of our students have never been on a college campus.

Bartlesville Public Schools, David Austin, Community Relations Coordinator