Credit union seeks creative learning grant applications

Applications are now being accepted for SELCO Community Credit Union’s annual SPARK! Creative Learning Grants, which award as much as $1,000 to K-12 educators across the 26 Oregon counties that SELCO serves. The application process will be open until Sept. 30.

Now in its 25 th year, the SPARK! Creative Learning Grant program was created with the belief that a lack of funding should not be an obstacle for educational projects that excite curiosity, deepen understanding, and encourage new ways of seeing. In 2017, the program awarded $39,309 to 42 educators in 32 Oregon schools for initiatives that ranged from building a multi-sensory obstacle course to the purchase of Google Chromebooks to help students practice music.

“Teachers have a unique ability to instill a passion for learning in our children, and SPARK! helps ensure that creative learning experiences, which so often light a fire for students, receive much-need funding,” said Laura Illig, SELCO’s vice president of marketing. “SELCO was created more than 80 years ago by a group of educators, and supporting the educational efforts of the communities we serve remains one of our core missions.”

SPARK! Creative Learning Grants support educators with innovative classroom ideas and a need to purchase materials or other resources to get those projects off the ground. Award recipients have used the funds for an almost unending variety of purposes, including the creation of a school garden and a guitar-building workshop. Visit www.selco.org/spark to view videos spotlighting the program.

For more information about SELCO Community Credit Union’s SPARK! Creative Learning Grants or to apply, visit www.selco.org/spark , email spark@selco.org , or call 541-686-5382.