Welcome to the Bristol Warren Education Foundation (BWEF) Grants page. Here you can take a look at programs, current and past, that BWEF has supported through our annual grant funding. BWEF provides grant funding to teachers and staff in the Bristol Warren Regional School District for innovative, high-quality programs that enhance and enrich our students' educational experience, and that that are outside the scope of existing school budgets.
Take a look — and feel free to reach out with any questions or feedback by email at grants@bwedfoundation.org
Grant Resources For Applicants:
We love hearing your feedback — we've incorporated a number of your recent suggestions into our grant application process and materials. The goal is to offer an accessible, equitable, user-friendly, intuitive process — while maintaining the standards and degree of rigor that your innovative ideas deserve.
The BWEF grant application period for the 2023-2024 school year is open.
Applications must be submitted by March 24, 2023
See the "How to Apply" link below.
More information and all materials needed to apply for funding can be found in the "How to Apply" section.
Please feel free to reach out with any questions or feedback email at grants@bwedfoundation.org
2022-2023 Awarded Grant Slate
Mount Hope High School
Anchor Athletics
Open to all students, Anchor Athletics is an after-school, character-driven fitness program aimed at building minds, bodies, and self-esteem. This innovative approach aims to create a well-rounded program in a safe, indoor fitness space with up-to-date equipment providing an alternative approach to promote health, fitness, and emotional wellbeing.
Freshman Summer Bridge
The Freshmen Summer Bridge Program is a collaborative vision between KMS and MHHS. KMS and MHHS will work together to identify the needs of the Class of 2026, in order to provide them with a summer transition/bridge program to facilitate a more successful transition to high school. The program provides social, emotional and organizational support and initiates engagement with the high school community ahead of the first day of school.
Screen Printing
To further studies in graphic design, the Art Department will collaborate with a professional graphic designer to teach screen printing. Screen Printing is the basis of all graphic design processes that currently use computers to create prints. Learning how to screen print creates a foundation for understanding the way designers use shape and color with Adobe Illustrator. This approach is much like learning how to shoot and develop film as a path to understanding digital photography.
Rhode Island School of Design Museum Trip
This project will take students in Level 3 of both French and Spanish classes to the RISD museum to gain greater insight into the visual arts, giving them a background in art history, as well as an opportunity to see contemporary art. Students will study their target language (French or Spanish) vocabulary and expressions related to art; the historical context of the 19th Century and Romanticism (French) and Spanish and Latin American art history (Spanish); and aspects of analyzing and evaluating works of art. The program culminates in presentations on various works housed at the museum.
Kickemuit Middle School
Literary Pen Pals
The Literary Pen pals project will have members of the Warren Senior Center and 24 sixth grade students independently read the book, Secret of the Ageloff Towers by Deborah Whitcomb. Through handwritten letters, the students and the seniors will correspond about the book. This program will give students a real-world connection to reading and writing and builds accountability. This program complements the Language Arts program and aims to move beyond it to enkindle a love for reading, writing, and communicating about books.
Junior DECA
This MHHS student-led initiative was first introduced in the 2019-2020 school year to over a dozen 7th and 8th grade students at Kickemuit Middle School and represented the first middle school level DECA program in the state of Rhode Island. In essence, Jr. DECA gives middle school students an opportunity to learn basic business and leadership skills and better prepare them for DECA at the high school level. This grant allows the program to expand and include additional students in the 2022-2023 school year.
First Chapter Fridays
First Chapter Friday is a simple, engaging tool to increase students' interest in independent reading via books that are appropriate for their grade level AND classroom curriculum. Each Friday, teachers will introduce a new text with a first chapter that is sure to get students hooked and wanting to read more over the weekend.
Project Based Learning (PBL) Initiative: Student Led Health Fair
All 7th grade students will participate in this Project Based Learning activity. Students' will raise awareness of the health issues facing middle schoolers. They will host an Art/Health Fair showcasing the importance of a Body System, which they will research. Along with information about the importance of their selected body system, students will include ways to help keep this body system healthy by identifying the 'what to do's' and 'what not to do's'. Students will be expected to collaborate with members of the community who are experts in their field. The project supplements the Next Generation Science Standards because it includes: student choice, connection and collaboration with specialists, creation of a product that students will showcase for their peers. And most importantly, it highlights health issues that affect students and the impacts of their personal choices.
Middle School Coding Club
The Coding Club was first introduced to KMS students in 2019 and provides students with a rich set of programming concepts that they can use to develop their own computer programs and leverage these tools in all areas of their education, such as iterative problem decomposition in science and algebraic thinking in math. The program is extremely popular, and this grant provides additional funds so that more students may participate in it.
Beginning Band
The goal of this project is to provide individualized instruction to new band students at Kickemuit Middle School. Professional musicians will provide small group and individualized instruction to sixth grade band students to ensure that every child has the support needed to succeed. This program will assess the individual needs of students and will provide small group and specific instruction to allow for better student learning and success.
Science Olympiad
Science Olympiad is a national, non-profit organization that seeks to improve the quality of STEM education and expose students to rigorous, inquiry-based learning in many different STEM-related fields. Students work with mentors such as teachers, parents and professionals in their community to learn new content and develop science and engineering skills. This collaborative atmosphere is fun and challenging. The target audience for Science Olympiad is any student in grades 6-8 who has an interest in STEM and would like to spend time after school working with peers to pursue that interest. Students will learn how to work effectively in a team and improve time management skills.
Mindfulness Toolkits (Hugh Cole & Rockwell)
Mindfulness strategies tend to slow a person's breathing and heart rate and put the various areas of the brain on a more similar wavelength, increasing one's ability to focus. This grant supports teachers and students by expanding teacher knowledge of strategies used to promote students' emotional self-regulation, stress-reduction, focus and readiness to learn. Teachers will receive a 'toolkit' to implement the strategies including mindfulness cards and reset activities.
Creative Movement (Guiteras & Rockwell)
This project will allow all second and third grade students to work with dancers and choreographers from the Island Moving Company in a short-term residency. During the residency, students will be exposed to basic concepts of movement, such as level, rhythm, shape and tempo. This experience will allow collaboration between the students, dancers, choreographers, as well as physical education and music teachers.
Performing Arts Integration (Rockwell)
A teacher-theater-parent-collaboration, this program for Rockwell fourth grade students begins with a classroom study of Charles Dickens and his classic story 'A Christmas Carol'. Using materials provided by Trinity Repertory Company, students will investigate dramatic enactments using the dialogue from the play. The historical context of the story and the cultural values of the 1800s will be compared and contrasted with present day. The students will practice skills and strategies in reading and writing while studying Scrooge's motivation, as well as his character change and development. After extensive classroom activities, students travel to Trinity Rep to see the live performance. While the students are away, parents will create a magical transformation of the classrooms into The Dickens Café for a luncheon to conclude a day of theater.
American Revolution/Boston Tea Party (Rockwell)
As part of the 5th grade Social Studies unit entitled "Cause for Revolution," students will have a hands-on opportunity to learn about one of the historical events that created tension between the colonies and Great Britain. Then, a trip to the Boston Tea Party Museum will provide students with a creative and innovative opportunity to "join" Samuel Adams and the Sons and Daughters of Liberty at the meeting house where they protest the King's unjust taxes. They will also play an active role in a riveting reenactment of the historic town meeting held just hours before the Boston Tea Party. Next, they will venture down to Griffin's Wharf and board an authentic replica vessel where they will throw the Crown's tea into Boston Harbor - the same body of water where this event took place over 240 years ago! Following this hands-on activity, students will have an opportunity with their peers to explore below decks and learn about life at sea.