School Grants
The request for grant proposals is initiated in September at the beginning of the school year and managed through the Downey Unified School District (DUSD). The Foundation’s grant guideline is that they be innovative and align with the Foundation’s mission statement. There is no monetary limit on an individual grant, but the total grant amount is approved annually by the MRSF Board during the budgeting process. The grants vary in dollar amount, but the goal is to motivate students to reach their potential. Even a grant as small as $170 to initiate coding in a first-grade classroom has been provided.
Teacher Grants
The Teacher Grants were started in 1995 and are rotated every year between Elementary, Middle, and High School teachers.
One example of these grants supported a High School to move one of their musicals from the school drama room to the local Civic Theater. This grant provided the students the opportunity to perform on a professional stage and learn about what goes on behind the scenes. The school is now able to collect enough in ticket sales to continue these musicals annually.
Other examples include a grant for 3D printers which were used in printing face masks during the COVID-19 closure. After COVID-19 the foundation provided grants for classroom and teacher resources in support of Social Emotional Inclusion to help students return to the classrooms. Special opportunities for learning are encouraged through grants like the field trip to the Aron Samueli Holocaust Memorial Library at Chapman University.
Principal Grants
The Principal Grants have continued since 2016 to honor the memory of Linda Kennedy for her tireless volunteer hours to the Foundation and for her personal support of Dr. Mary Stauffer. This grant inspires school principals to imagine new ways to benefit all students at his or her school.
Linda Kennedy: A year after Linda retired from 38 years of working in the Downey Unified School District, in 2005, Dr. Mary asked, and Linda accepted, the invitation to join the Foundation’s board of directors. She also served as the Chief Financial Officer through 2016. Her most important contribution was to support and promote the establishment of Project Lead the Way, an engineering program at Warren High School, which was subsequently implemented at all the schools in Downey through a separate grant.
District Grants
The District Grants are requests that support multiple schools across the District. These types of grants include the Autry in Residence Program for Grades 3-5, Columbia Memorial Space Center (CMSC) Challenger Learning Center field trip, Project Lead the Way (PLTW), Robolympics, and the All District School marching band.
The Autry in Residence staff bring artifacts to the students who work in teams and become California history detectives. This is a great critical thinking program with 21st century skills.
Other Grants
(Description Coming Soon)
Downey High School Robotics Program