Libri Foundation: Books for Children Grants
The Libri Foundation Books for Children Grants donate new, quality, hardcover children's books for small, rural, public libraries across the country. Maximum award: varies. Eligibility: Libraries should be in a rural area, have a limited operating budget, and an active children's department. The average total operating budget of a Books for Children grant recipient must be less than $40,000. Deadline: May 15, 2012.

Institute of International Education: WISE Awards
The World Innovation Summit on Education (WISE) Awards are designed to identify, showcase, and promote innovative educational projects from around the world. Under the theme Transforming Education, the 2012 WISE Awards will recognize six projects for their concrete, positive impact upon society. Maximum award: $20,000 and access to international exposure. Eligibility: WISE invites project holders in any sector and at any level of education to submit applications that demonstrate the quality and impact of their activities in accordance with the criteria stated in the regulations. Deadline: May 31, 2012.

EPA: Sense of Wonder Contest
To honor the late preservationist and ecologist Rachel Carson, the EPA, Generations United, and the Rachel Carson Council, Inc., are holding a photo, essay, and poetry contest "that best expresses the Sense of Wonder that you feel for the sea, the night sky, forests, birds, wildlife, and all that is beautiful to your eyes." In her book The Sense of Wonder (written in the 1950s and published in a magazine in 1956), Carson used lyrical passages about the beauty of nature and the joys of helping children develop a sense of wonder and love of nature. Maximum award: publication on the websites of EPA Aging Initiative, Generations United, and Rachel Carson Council, Inc. Eligibility: entries must be joint projects involving a person under age 18 and a person age 50 or older. Deadline: June 1, 2012.

MetLife/NASSP: Breakthrough Schools
The National Association of Secondary School Principals and the MetLife Foundation are calling for entries in the search for the nation's top Breakthrough Schools. Applicants should be high-achieving middle or high schools, or schools that are making dramatic improvements in student achievement, whose best practices and outstanding results can inform other schools as they further their own improvement efforts. Honorees will be chosen based upon documented success in implementing strategies aligned with the three core areas of NASSP's Breaking Ranks II publication: collaborative leadership; personalization; and curriculum, instruction, and assessment. Maximum award: $5,000 recognition in the association's monthly magazine, Principal Leadership. Eligibility: high-achieving middle and high schools with 40 percent or more students eligible for free and reduced priced meals. Deadline: June 30, 2012.

NSTA: New Science Teacher Academy
The NSTA New Science Teacher Academy Foundation is a professional development initiative created to promote quality science teaching, enhance teacher confidence and classroom excellence, and improve teacher content knowledge. Maximum award: program expenses. Eligibility: middle or high school science teachers entering their second or third year of teaching, working a schedule with 51 percent of their classes in science. Deadline: July 1, 2012.

AAPT: Frederick and Florence Bauder Endowment for the Support of Physics Teaching
The American Association of Physics Teachers Frederick and Florence Bauder Endowment for the Support of Physics Teaching was established to support special activities in the area of physics teaching. Activities can include but are not limited to the development and distribution of innovative apparatuses for physics teaching; traveling exhibits of apparatuses; and local workshops. Maximum award: $500. Eligibility: AAPT members. Deadline: July 1, 2012.

ASCD: Outstanding Young Educator Award
The Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development is seeking nominations for its Outstanding Young Educator Award, which recognizes a teacher under the age of 40 who demonstrates excellence in his or her profession, a positive impact on students, creativity in the classroom, and leadership in his or her school or district. Maximum award: $10,000; ASCD institutional membership. Eligibility: full-time K-12 teachers under age 40; self-nominations accepted. Deadline: August 1, 2012.


NAIS: Challenge 20/20 Partnership
The National Association of Independent Schools invites schools to participate in Challenge 20/20, a program that brings together one school from the United States and one school from outside of the United States. Teacher-student teams from both schools work together throughout the fall 2012 school semester to come up with a solution to a global problem. Challenge 20/20 is based on Jean Francois Rischard's book, High Noon: 20 Global Problems, 20 Years to Solve Them. Maximum award: international cooperation and collaboration between youth. Eligibility: all U.S. schools, elementary and secondary, public or private. Deadline: August 17, 2012.

P. Buckley Moss Foundation: Grants for Incorporation of the Arts
The P. Buckley Moss Foundation for Children's Education makes grants for new or evolving programs that integrate the arts into educational programming. The purpose is to aid and support teachers who wish to establish an effective learning tool using the arts in teaching children who learn differently. Maximum award: $1,000. Eligibility: programs for children K-12. Deadline: September 30, 2012.

Humane Society of the United States: Education Mini-grant
The Humane Society of the United States is now accepting applications for the 2012 Humane Education Mini-Grant, designed to fund innovative humane education opportunities in K-12 classrooms. Maximum award: $1,000. Eligibility: all certified K-12 teachers in the U.S. Deadline: November 30, 2012.

Mickelson/ExxonMobil: 2013 Teachers Academy
The Mickelson ExxonMobil 2013 Teachers Academy offers a program designed to provide third- through fifth-grade teachers with the knowledge and skills necessary to motivate students to pursue careers in science and math. Maximum award: all expenses paid five-day program in July 2013. Eligibility: third- through fifth-grade teachers from all over the United States. Deadline: October 31, 2013.