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Creative Dad On the Job · Pathways · Sustainability & Environment

912W-GGP

Schoolyard Greening Grant Proposal

Sustainability & EnvironmentLevel 3 · 14–16 hrs11 sessions · 75–90 minutesTeam 4–6 (5 is ideal; see roles)Project brief, draft

Win a Cool Schoolyards grant for shade trees and a rain garden in our schoolyard.

Client scenario

Welcome to the grants team. The Riverbend Community Foundation (fictional) has opened its Cool Schoolyards small-grants round for shade trees and rain gardens. Your school leader wants to apply, and you're the team writing the application.

Client: The school leader (the teacher in role), who signs the application. The funder sets the rules, and its review panel decides.

Part of our schoolyard is hot, bare and floods after storms. The school can't pay to fix it alone.

Roles

  • Grant Manager
  • Site Researcher
  • Budget Lead
  • Proposal Writer
  • Quality Lead

The twist: Two days before the deadline, the foundation's Funder Update (H3) lowers the maximum award by 25% (from $5,000 to $3,750) and adds a 300-word limit to the needs statement.

Standards mapped

Mapped means the framework is verified and the teacher confirms the evidence. It isn't a claim that a project meets a standard.

  • NACE (Dec 2025)
  • ED Employability Skills Framework
  • CA Standards for Career Ready Practice
  • NGSS Science & Engineering Practices
  • CCSS ELA

Not tagged in this brief: CCSS Math, ISTE Students.

Safety, devices and privacy

  • Site observations stay on school grounds, with an adult present. Teams stay in the agreed area, away from parking lots and driveways, and don't climb, dig or move anything.
  • No digging, planting or tool use in this project. The application describes work that adults and contractors would do later if it were ever funded.
  • Heat and sun: observation trips are short (15 minutes or less in full sun), with water available, and are moved indoors in extreme heat or storms.
  • Thermometers: simple contact or air thermometers, or school-device data. No infrared thermometers with laser pointers, and nothing is pointed at people.
  • School devices only. No phones, and no personal accounts. No photos: site maps and shade notes are sketched by hand.
  • No student names, photos or personal information in the application or pitch. Sign work "Team [#]". Quotes from the school community are made up or anonymous ("a fifth-grade teacher").
  • Nothing is submitted to a real funder. If the school later wants to apply for a real grant, that's an adult decision outside this project.

Creative Dad On the Job is in-class client project work. It is not a paid, off-campus On-the-Job Training (OJT) placement.

Budget levels

Totals and Amazon links come from the materials sheet.

Materials links go to Amazon. Prices are estimates and may change.

Quick Start

Digital downloads only. $0 to buy. Printing is noted separately.

$0 to buy. Printing $3–$6, noted separately.

Print-only version workable

  • Printing: guidelines, cost sheet, templates, handoutsPrintingAbout 70–90 pages$3–6
  • ThermometersBorrow or school has2–3$0
  • ClipboardsBorrow or school has1 per team$0
  • Classroom timer or wall clockBorrow or school has1$0

Full Experience

Up to $25 per class.

About $3–$6 per class. Fits under $25 per class.

Full Transformation

The bigger kit, with every optional item included.

About $16–$29 per class.

  • If needed: digital thermometersOptional2–3$8–15 for 2Amazon
  • Graph paperOptional1 pad$5–8Amazon

The rest of the brief is part of a subscription

Sessions, role duties, deliverables, materials, free tools, and the teacher setup use the same Creative Dad account as the project library. There is no separate student login.

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