Media matters, Vol. 4, Issue 1 (Aug. 2005)

August 2005 Volume 4, Number 1

Georgia Department of Education

Media Matters
A monthly newsletter for people who love library media programs

Bill Elliott reads Dog Breath by Dav Pilkey

Inside this issue:

Retirees

2

TOTY

2

Join the Major

3

Leagues

Grant Opportunities 4

McIntosh H.S. writers 6

More grants

7

Calendar

8

NASCAR driver Bill Elliott is the latest participant in the Georgia Read More project. Bill read Dav Pilkey's book Dog Breath in his museum/shop to a group of Union County Elementary students. The Georgia Read More programs are currently airing on public broadcasting stations around the state. The readers have included President Jimmy Carter, Atlanta Brave John Smoltz, country music singer Travis Tritt, First Lady Mary Perdue, and State Superintendent Kathy Cox. Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice Leah Ward-Sears and Atlanta Falcon Warrick Dunn are the next scheduled readers in this project.
Check the Georgia Public Broadcasting website for air times.

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Retirees 2004-2005
Some retirees names were omitted from the May 2005 issue.

Media Matters

We salute the following people for their years of dedication to the students of Georgia: Paula Chambers: West Bainbridge Elementary/Decatur County Mattie Allen: Lillian E. Williams Elementary/Decatur Connie Johnson: Henry County Hettie Young: R.M. Moore Elementary/Cherokee Connie Wade: Mountain Road Elementary/Cherokee Cherrie D. Bonner: Burgess-Peterson Elementary/Atlanta Sue Gable: Gordon Central High School/Gordon County Jane Atkinson: Fountain Elementary/Clayton County Jane Downey: Brown Elementary/Clayton County Nancy Harbin: Mt. Zion Elementary/Clayton County Patsy Mobley: Huie Elementary/Clayton County Jimmie Stout:: Spalding High School/Griffin

Media Specialists are Teachers Too!

These library media specialists were chosen as TOTY at their school. Their names were inadvertently left out of the May 2005 issue.

Jennifer Blakey: Buffington Elementary /Cherokee County Cawood Cornelius: Gordon Central High School/ Gordon County Denise Golden: Sylvandale Elementary/Dougherty County ( Denise was a 1st year Media Specialist!)

Volume 4, Number 1

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Libraries Across the Country Join the Major Leagues
Deep into this year's baseball season, libraries across the country are celebrating the classic sport and the role libraries play in building 21st century literacy skills by participating in the Join the Major Leagues @ your library program. Major Leagues @your library was developed by ALA, Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association.
The fourth year of the Join the Major Leagues @ your library program launched in April with events at the Echo Park Branch of the Los Angeles Public Library and Dodgers Stadium. This program is designed to help people of all ages build their 21st century information literacy skills. The centerpiece of the program is an online baseball trivia contest that challenges participants to utilize the resources available at the library to answer baseball trivia questions of increasing difficulty. Available in English and Spanish, the trivia questions are organized by age group (10 and under, 11-13, 14-17 and 18 and older).
All of the program's baseball trivia questions are posted on the Join the Major Leagues Web site, and answers can be submitted in electronic form. Players can also submit answers by mail.
The grand-prize winner of the program will receive a trip to a designated game of the 2005 Major League Baseball World Series next fall. First-place prizes will also be awarded.
Free downloadable promotional materials are also available to libraries that register on the Web site. Tools include bookmarks, a poster and a toolkit, which includes programming ideas and customizable media relations materials.
Of all libraries that register, the five that bring in the most number of entries will be eligible to win special incentives. The three libraries that bring in the most number of entries will each receive a $100 bookstore gift certificate. The next two libraries that send in the next most number of entries will each receive a $50 gift certificate to ALA Graphics. The first 200 libraries that bring in at least 25 entries will receive a free Jackie Robinson History Lives poster from ALA Graphics.
All libraries that send in a report detailing how they promoted the program along with sample publicity materials that utilized the official "Join the Major Leagues @ your library" logo will be entered into a drawing for a $100 gift certificate to mlb.com.
Major League Baseball is a founding partner of The Campaign for America's Libraries. The Join the Major Leagues @ your library program is supported by the Association for Library Service to Children, the Public Library Association, REFORMA, the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum and the Hispanic Heritage Baseball Museum.
http://www.ala.org/ala/pressreleases2005/july2005/JTMLjuly2005.htm

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Media Matters

This summer the Georgia Tech Global Learning Center hosted its annual Grant Writing Workshop. Dara O'Neil, Claudia Huff, Theresa Turman and Margie Brown conducted a two day workshop with grant writing resources, hands on Internet sessions, and a tremendous amount of important and helpful information.
I encourage you to take advantage of this workshop next summer. I am including a list of funding opportunities with permission from the Georgia Tech staff.
Finding Funding Opportunities
Free funding directories on the Internet:
TechLearning http://www.techlearning.com/resources/grants.jhtml A very useful searchable database for funding opportunities.
The Foundation Center http://www.fdncenter.org/funders/| Allows you to search for a foundation's contact information and website address. Also allows you to search for foundations based on funding interest (do a sector search).
Grants.gov http://www.grants.gov| Allows organizations to electronically find and apply for competitive grant opportunities from all federal grant-making agencies. Grants.gov is the single access point for over 900 grant programs offered by the 26 federal grant-making agencies.
eSchoolNews Onlinehttp://eschoolnews.org/erc/funding/ Posts grant opportunities under "Grants and Funding" link on left-hand column.
SchoolGrants http://www.schoolgrants.org/ Listing of grant opportunities for K-12.
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance http://12.46.245.173/cfda/cfda.html Gives you access to a database of all federal programs available.
Free email updates:
Foundation Center's Weekly RFP Bulletin http://fdncenter.org/pnd/rfp/ Sign up for a weekly email of new funding opportunities from foundations to be emailed to you.
U.S. Department of Education's EdInfo Listserv http://www.ed.gov/news/newsletters/edinfo/index.html Sign up to receive two email messages a week featuring new reports, funding opportunities, and other information from the U.S. Department of Education.
eSchool News this Week http://www.eschoolnews.com/emailprofile/ Weekly email on the week's top education technology news, the latest grants, and how schools are solving technology problems to improve learning.
(Continued on next page)

Volume 4, Number 1

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Free print publications: Technology & Learning Magazine
http://www.sfsdayton.com/500/subscribe.asp This magazine focuses on the use of technology in education but also includes a section on upcoming grant deadlines, contests, and awards. You can register for a free subscription to be mailed to you via an online form. eSchool News http://www.eschoolnews.com/registration/ Monthly newspaper publication that has the latest on technology news for K-12 and also includes a section on upcoming grant opportunities. You can register for a free subscription to be mailed to you. Grant Deadline Calendar 2005-2006 http://i.cmpnet.com/techlearning/pdf/supplements/DELLGrantsCalendar200506.pdf Calendar of monthly grant deadlines for 2005-2006. Provided by Dell Computers.
Fee-based resources: Funding Directory Online
http://fconline.fdncenter.org/ The Foundation Center's subscription-based funding database with details on 77,000 funders. Costs begin at $19.95/month. Grants and Funding Alert http://www.eschoolnews.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=22&products_id=29 eSchoolNews offers a bi-monthly newsletter on upcoming funding opportunities that is emailed to you. Cost is $35/year for 24 issues. See the sample issue online. Best Practices in Grants and Funding http://www.eschoolnews.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=22&products_id=30 This report from eSchool News provides strategies, tools, and best practices for grant proposals. Cost is $25. SchoolGrants Biweekly Newsletter http://www.schoolgrants.org/newsletter2.htm For $45/year, subscribers receive two issue per month on upcoming grant deadlines, grantwriting tips, and online grant-writing resources.

1952 Twin Towers East 205 Jesse Hill Jr. Drive Atlanta, Georgia 30334
Phone: 404-657-9800 Fax: 404-657-6822 Email: judy.serritella@doe.k12.ga.us
We will lead the nation in improving student achievement.

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Media Matters

Tenth Grade Students Write Bestseller
Last fall when Dawn Burnette announced to her 10th grade honors English students that they were going to write a book. She couldn't have predicted that they would produce a best seller, but when 500 copies disappeared within a couple of weeks and queries about the book came from as far away as the office of the First Lady, it became obvious this classroom assignment would have a much farther reach than McIntosh High School.
High School 101: Freshman Survival Guide is a 160 page dialogue directed to kids entering their first year in high school. It is funny, informative, and full of helpful advice from teens who know what "freshpersons" go through...because they just survived it.
Covering topics ranging from study habits to how to deal with upperclassmen, this little book has been called a "must read" for every middle and high school student in the country.
The proceeds from High School 101 are administered by McIntosh High School and donated to charitable organizations selected by the student authors.
ISBN: 0-9760824 $14.95 (7.50 until September 30, 2005) Order your copy at: www.HS-101.com or 1-866-857-4678

This article was adapted from a press release from United Writers Press.

Volume 4, Number 1

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Dollar General Grants
The Dollar General Charitable Contributions Program supports nonprofit organizations in the communities in the 27 states where company stores are located. The Community Grants Program provides grants of up to $2,500 for nonprofit organizations committed to the advancement of youth literacy initiatives. The deadlines for 2005 are September 5 and December 5. The Back-to-School Grant Program awards $5,000 grants to assist schools in meeting some of the financial challenges they face in implementing new programs or purchasing new equipment, materials or software for their school library or literacy program. The 2005 deadline for this program is August 12. Get the details at http://www.dollargeneral.com/community/communityinvestments.aspx

Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy
The goal of the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy's National Grant Program is to develop and expand family literacy efforts nationwide, and to support the development of literacy programs that build families of readers. The program funds projects that are designed to support the development of literacy skills for adult primary care givers and their children. Eligible organizations must operate an instructional literacy program that has been in existence for at least two years and includes one or more of the following components: literacy for adults; parent education; literacy or pre-literacy instruction for children pre-K to grade 3; and intergenerational literacy activities.
The application deadline is September 9, 2005.
Get more information at
http://www.barbarabushfoundation.com

Read Across America Library Books Awards
A new award helps public schools serving economically disadvantaged students purchase books for school libraries. Two deadlines: September 15, 2005 and February 1, 2006. Applicants must be members of the National Education Association (NEA). Get more information at: http://www.neafoundation.org

Sunday

August 2005
GaDOE Library Media Services

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Herman Melville Birthday ofJames born: 1819-1891 Baldwin: 19241987

1861 Last install- Louis Armstrong Conrad Aiken's

ment ofGreat

born: 1901-1971 birthday: 1889-

Expectations by Percy Shelley

1973

Charles Dickens born: 1792-1822

is published

P.D. James born:

1920-

Alfred, Lord Tennyson born: 1809-1892

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Ralph Bunche Birthdays ofSara born: 1904-1971 Teasdale and Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings

P.L. Travers born: 1902-1996

Birthday ofHerbert Hoover: 1874-1964

Alex Haley born: 1921-1992

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Invention ofthe phonograph: 1877

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Berlin Wall construction begins: 1961

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1834 Richard Henry Dana sets sail fromBoston Harbor

Sir Walter Scott Birthday ofMatt born: 1771-1832 Christopher: 1917-1997

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Ted Hughes born: Birthday ofPaula Ogden Nash's Birthday ofBenja-

1930-1998

Danziger: 1944- birthday: 1902- min Harrison:

1971

1833-1901

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Hawaii enters the Ray Bradbury

union: 1959

born: 1920-

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Edgar Lee Maste- Jorge Luis Borges Birthday ofLeon- Patricia Beatty Birthday ofTheo-

rs born: 1869- born: 1899-1986 ard Bernstein: born: 1926-1991 dore Dreiser:

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Tasha Tudor's birthday: 1915-

1962 Robert Frost Donald Crews:

leaves for a

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goodwill tour of Mary Shelley:

U.S.S.R.

1797-1851

Virginia Lee

Burton: 1909-

1968

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Birthday ofWilliam Saro yan: 1908-1981

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It is the sup reme ar t o f the teacher to awaken j oy in cr eative expres si on and k nowledg e. Albert Einstei n