Great Stories Club Resource Guide

Sample Project Proposal Form

Name: Shauna Sanders Date: November 4, 2010

Email: shaunasanders@gmail.com Phone: 706-876-4350
Library: Morris Innovative High School
Library Address: 803 East Morris Street
Library City, State, Zip: Dalton, Ga 30720

Project title:
Inspiring Innovative Minds

Project description and justification: Include statement of importance of project to the

community and beyond, and links to library mission and goals.
We are calling this project Inspiring Innovative Minds because we are choosing to target our
students at our newest high school, Morris Innovative High. This high school was designed
to help encourage and motivate students at the other high school that are not meeting
requirements, viewed as potential dropouts, and students who have had serious obstacles to
overcome. Dalton Public Schools is a rather small school district that believes strongly that
ALL of our students can learn and we strive to help each child achieve their dreams and
goals. Therefore, any time we can jump on an opportunity to help this group of students that
need a little encouragement, we definitely seize it. Our justification for applying for this grant
to fund our project is each kid that will be able to participate in the project.
As a school district, we realize that we are teaching and guiding the future leaders of our
community. We want to make every effort we can to make sure we are creating ethical,
strong and confident leaders that can be successful with leading our community.

Intended audience and potential use: Whom will the project serve and how?
The Morris Innovative High School was created to help students in grades 8-12 overcome the
obstacles that could potentially hold them back from achieving their goals and graduation
high school. The school serves around 200 students in student-specific virtual learning
opportunities in their core subject areas. The small school setting and individualized learning
plans are intended to help ALL of the students earn the credits they need to graduate within
the four-year time frame.
Many of these students tend to come from unstable homes that sometimes fail to provide the
support needed to help a student achieve success in school. Some of the other students
have already entered parenthood. This project would serve many of these students who
have experiences some tough times and will hopefully help them overcome some hardships.
The books these students will hopefully read, will also hopefully inspire many of them to rise
above what they have been dealt so far in life.
Collaborative partnerships: Describe the nature of the proposed collaboration and
what major responsibilities would fall to each partner.
The media specialist at Morris Innovative High School and one ELA teacher are going to
serve as the collaborative partners in this project. The three of us will meet with the students
in the ELA class to determine which students will potentially benefit from this project and all
three of us will serve as book club leaders for the students. I will work on the budget part of
the project and the MIHS partners will focus more on the plans for the book clubs.

Budgetary contribution: Indicate whether budgetary support exists for this project and
how the partner might contribute in terms of budget or staffing.
Unfortunately, we do not have many opportunities around our community at this time to help
with the budgeting for this project. Our community seems to be suffering heavily from the
economic downturn we have been experiencing. We will need assistance with purchasing
the books for the book clubs. We plan to have three groups of at least 10 students in each
group. Therefore, the students and the leader will need a copy of the book and then we will
need additional copies of the other books we plan to have on our optional list at the end of
each book. We also believe that we will need to include at least one counselor within each
group to be a part of the discussions from week to week. The three of us are volunteering
our time, but we will need funding for the counselors to attend.
There is a purchase order attached with this application for all the books we will need to
purchase. Also, there is the money we will need for the counselors. We plan to use three
counselors, one for each group. The counselors will be paid for 2 hours once a week for 4
months. We plan to pay them $30 each meeting. Therefore, we will need $1440 to cover the
costs of the counselors and the total cost of the books is $1241.28.
Our total budget would be $2681.28.

Timeline: Describe any preferred start and end dates or other deadlines. Assessment:
To help in determining which students need which topics, we will provide a survey first.
Then, after carefully studying the survey results and performing some other research on the
students’ backgrounds, then we will begin our club groups. We plan to provide the students
with a personal survey asking questions about their goals, intentions and plans for the future.
After we complete the book clubs for one semester, we will then provide the same group of
students with the same survey to see if some of their goals change or improve.
We plan to meet once a week until the book is completed. Students and club leaders will
have one week to read 2-3 chapters and will then meet together at a local Starbucks or other
facility away from the school setting. Then, after completion of the book, then the students
will be provided with a list of books with similar topics. Then, the students will participate in
an online collaboration tool to discuss the book. After the second book club, then the
students will

Indicate measures that might be used in evaluating the impact of the project.
Many of these students have struggled with academics over the years. That is why they
attend this school. We hope to see an improvement in their overall grades and attendance
in school.
In addition, we plan to provide a pre and post survey about the each student’s goals for the
future. We hope to see an improvement in this area as well. We are hoping that these
students will not only be able to relate to the characters in the books, but will also realize that
they can relate to and help their own classmates.
Finally, as of right now, most of these students struggle with reading and do not seem to
have any interest in reading independently. We believe these book clubs will increase the
desire to read more independently.

Please provide any additional information that might be appropriate, including letters
of support, links to any special event, thoughts on project organization.
**Purchase order is below.**

Created by the ALA Public Programs Office and YALSA, with cooperation from YALSA’s Outreach to Young Adults with Special
Needs Committee
 Purchase Order for Great Stories Club Grant
November 6, 2010

Quantity Item Subtotal Total

Book Titles:
12 One of Those Hideous Books Where the $7.99 $95.88
Mother Dies (paperback)
12 The Afterlife (paperback) $6.95 $83.40
12 The Rules of Survival (hardback) $6.80 $81.60
12 Beige (paperback) $8.99 $107.88
12 City of Bones (paperback) $7.91 $94.92
12 Three Little Word: A Memoir (paperback) $9.99 $119.88
12 Rash (paperback) $9.99 $119.88
12 Twists and Turns (paperback) $7.99 $95.88
12 Street Love (paperback) $8.99 $107.88
12 Ball Don’t Lie (paperback) $7.99 $95.88
12 The Dead and Gone (paperback) $9.86 $118.32
12 How to Salsa in a Sari (paperback) $9.99 $119.88

*Free Shipping*
Total for books $1241.28

Shauna Sanders, Roan Elementary Media Specialist

Company: www.Amazon.com