Sample Application #1

Name of Project: Peer Mediation Group

Youth Applicants:

Name*: Jimmy Monk Cell Phone*: 415-555-1212

E-mail Address*: jimmymonk@gmail.com

Name*: Melody Fargo Cell Phone*: 415-555-9573

E-mail Address*: minimel@gmail.com

Name: William Smith Cell Phone: 510-555-3930

E-mail Address: bigwillie@schoolmail.com

Name: Lori Wong Cell Phone: 650-555-2415

E-mail Address: lwong@yahoo.com

Description of Project*:

What do you propose doing to advocate for a better education or to improve the education provided at your school?

We would like to start a Peer Mediation Group at Monroe High. We have seen that there are a lot of conflicts between the different people that we have here. This school is wonderfully diverse but sometimes that can create friction. We find at our school that peers tend to listen more to each other than to the teachers. We would like to start a Peer Mediation Group to solve a lot of the conflicts that we have at school . This would help our school out greatly because the students would be better leaders with the skills that they learn from the mediation. We hope that the mediations would lead to less conflicts and then we would have a better school atmosphere. We hope that this group creates a sense of community where students feel like they can relate to one another more than they do now.

Number of people expected to participate your project*: 100

CONTACT INFORMATION

Youth Project Leader

Please list one youth applicant to serve as the project leader. This person will be responsible for interacting with the Right To Learn staff on a regular basis by phone and/or e-mail and will be the one to whom the grant is sent.

Name*: Jimmy Monk Age*: 15

Address*: 567 Field Road

City*: Castro Valley State*: CA ZIP*: 98935

E-mail Address*: JimmyMonk@gmail.com

Cell Phone*: 415-555-1212

Adult Ally

Please list a non-controlling adult ally to serve as a resource for you during your project. We will contact this person before making an award decision, so please make sure to check with them first!

Name*: Ms. Jennifer Moss
Address*: 7384 23rd Street

City*: Castro Valley State*: CA ZIP*: 98615

E-mail*: JenniferMoss@gmail.com

Cell Phone*: 856-645-9558

Why did you choose this person to be your adult ally?* She runs the other Peer Programs at our school. She is a very resourceful person. She has a lot of experience starting projects and working with the administration at our school. She will be a great help in supporting our project. She also will help in providing us a space to meet in, in her room at lunch when the mediations will happen.

MORE ABOUT YOUR PROJECT

Please answer these questions about your project. We don't want (or need) essays; just give us a paragraph or two that highlights the key points.

What is the expected outcome of your project? What do you expect to accomplish?*

The expected outcome of our mediation group is to have students mediate conflicts with other students. We expect there to be less conflicts at Monroe because students will have a better understanding of how their conflicts are caused and how they can be peacefully resolved. We expect that students will have more respect for each other. We also expect there to be a more positive school environment.

Who are you trying to influence with your project? Why do you believe that your actions will affect his/her/their opinion? (if applicable)

We are first trying to influence the students into believing that we, the students, can solve the the conflicts (fights, cliques, etc.) because many students are hopeless about things ever changing and believe this is just "how it is." Another one of our goals is to influence the administration of our school see that groups like this one that might not be the traditional type of group can really help improve our school. We are also trying to create a model for others schools to follow. We hope that our project will be successful and and we can share our project with other schools so that they consider having a Peer Mediation Group to improve their school community.

Why is it important for this project to happen?*

It is very important for this project to happen because we do not think that the school environment is very friendly right now and if we had this Peer Mediation Group we feel like there will be less conflicts and the school environment would be more positive. We think that teaching students these kinds of skills will be really helpful later on in life too.

What are the necessary steps to complete your project? When will they take place? Give us an idea of your timeline.*

We will first get trained in the summer by Ms. Moss' friend at our school. It will be a day-long training where we will learn all that we will need to know about mediation and how to resolve conflicts. We have already pitched the idea to our administrator and they said are considering it, but it looks like they are mostly supportive. Our project will start in the fall and continue into the rest of the school year. We will have weekly meetings every Thursday at lunch to help students who feel like they need to sort out some problems. We will also take referrals from teachers and have special scheduled meditations with students. We will have another follow-up training with Ms. Moss' friend half-way through the year to evaluate how it's going and possibly learn new skills.

Think about who is involved in your project and list their specific responsibilities.*

Everyone that is listed above will be trained to do mediation. Jimmy will be in charge of finances and keeping us on budget. He will also be the main person in regular contact with Right To Learn. The rest of the group will be in charge of getting supplies and mediating.

How will your project have a long-term and positive impact on education in California?*

We hope the long term and positive impact that we have on education in California is to show how successful peer mediation can be. Also we hope to empower youth to start their own school-based projects to help other youth.

PROJECT BUDGET

You must submit a proposed project budget with your application. Sample budget forms are available on the Right To Learn Web site at www.RightToLearnCA.org/grants in Microsoft Excel format.

Be sure to list as many things as possible (transportation, printing/signs/flyers, food, equipment, etc.) and a specific price for each. You can look in local stores or use Google to search for companies that sell the items you need to get an idea of prices. Also, think about whether you can get items donated or at a discount from local merchants. If you need more help with this part, ask your adult ally or get in touch with us at 415-375-3096.

Download sample budget (XLS Format)

GRANT REQUEST

From your budget, please list the total amount your team is requesting: $750 (Max: $5,000)

Reminder: You must submit your application online at www.RightToLearnCA.org/grants by August 31, 2008.