23
Oct
One of my favorite genres of articles involve creativity in the schools, which are usually about K-12 initiatives that stretch way beyond our standardized-testing mania. I can’t resist sharing some of my favorite ideas I’ve learned about in the last few months: Grand Rapids Public Museum School, where a struggling school district opened a school *inside* a struggling museum. The museum’s collections are folded into the curriculum, and students learn through hands-on, community-based activities, including a local river-revitalization project. ( More )An outdoors-oriented Forest Kindergarten program at a public elementary school in Georgia, which builds its curriculum around year-long research projects at each grade level. ( More )Tiny Trees, an outdoor preschool program in Seattle, which partners with the city’s parks and recreation program to provide hands-on, nature-based experiences. ( More ) Collecting these kind of innovative ideas is critical to my role in grants, as I’ve explained before. Just last week, I stumbled upon this article: How Schools Can Stop Killing Creativity (which is really just an excerpt from a new book called “Pushing the Limits.”) I recommend reading the entire story, but there was one nugget, way down in the article, that relates directly to an issue we are struggling… Continue Reading Let’s ask students: How might Virginia Western boost enrollment and retention?Read More
17
Oct
She laughs when I call her a “grant dreamweaver,” but that’s how I see Amanda Decker and her superhero role at Virginia Western. Amanda is currently the Workforce Student Services Team Lead and Career Navigator. She’s my go-to contact whenever I have grant-related questions involving the Workforce division … and those questions are multiplying, especially as more funders are emphasizing short-term, non-credit credentials. In 2017, we’re tracking over $1.3 million in 13+ grant projects through Workforce, ranging from as little as $1,000 (for outreach to local faith leaders) to $439,062 (a program to help TANF recipients become self-sufficient). Amanda is critical to the success of these grants, especially when she “braids” various funding streams for individual students. She explains more about dreamweaving, her love of superheroes, and her own backstory in this Q&A. Amanda Decker Current job titleWorkforce Student Services Team Lead and Career Navigator Years at VWCC5 Please summarize your educational/career backgroundI have a B.B.A. with a concentration in Marketing from Roanoke College and a Master of Arts in Human Services: Life Coaching from Liberty University. Certifications I hold: Global Career Development Facilitator and Instructor, Virginia Career Coach, and Workforce Development Professional. Before coming to VWCC, I was a… Continue Reading Amanda Decker, Workforce career navigator, is really a grant-weaving superheroRead More
So I’m writing this just a few days since CityWorks (X)po 2017, while it’s still fresh. I’m still processing all of the stories and ideas and heavy subject matter — including institutionalized racism — that we discussed during the annual conference in Roanoke’s Grandin Village, but I thought I would focus on my concrete actions that might inspire more of us at Virginia Western. Here we go: 1. I donated more money to Virginia Western I cried twice during this year’s (X)po. The first time was while watching this video about Welcome Home of Chattanooga, which provides a home for anyone with a terminal illness who has nowhere to go for end-of-life care. (Don’t watch without Kleenex … you’ve been warned.) The second (happy) cry was after hearing the story of Dadhi Dangal, the first recipient of Virginia Western Educational Foundation’s Refugee Annual Scholarship. Starting when he was 7 years old, Dadhi, of Bhutan, spent 18 ½ years in a refugee camp in Nepal before moving to the U.S. in 2008. Even while struggling to support his family, Dadhi earned his GED, received his LPN certificate at Virginia Western, and ultimately completed VWCC’s LPN to RN bridge program. He is… Continue Reading CityWorks (X)po: 5 ways I’m turning ideas into ACTIONRead More
About Shelley
Shelley Lyons is glad to be back on campus as she is a Virginia Western alum, and has served as the Administrative Officer for Grants Administration at Virginia Western since early 2022. Prior to VWCC, her career focus was within the Human Services and Arts fields. She wrote her first grant in 1996 on a whim and has continued to plan and learn since that time. She most enjoys seeing a well-planned project come to fruition, where funder, project manager and beneficiaries can all feel success and see impact.
Recent Posts
- Welcome to Grantology February 3, 2023
- Innovation Grant Lab series: Finish line! (March) March 2, 2022
- Innovation Grant Lab series: Is this a good investment? (February) February 2, 2022
- Innovation Grant Lab series: What does success look like? (January) January 5, 2022
- Innovation Grant Lab series: Add some secret sauce (December) December 1, 2021