One of the strengths of the SEMIS Coalition is our ability to collaboratively gather and redistribute resources to increase access to place-based learning experiences in Southeast Michigan. The ‘Place-Based Partnership Grant Program’ supports our mission to facilitate school-community partnerships and develop students as citizen-stewards of healthy ecological and social systems by providing active SEMIS Coalition members the opportunity to request funding to fill critical resource gaps for their place-based learning experiences. 

As available funding allows, the Place-Based Partnership Grant Program will be open to active SEMIS Coalition teachers, teacher teams, instructional coaches, and active community partners working with a teacher or teacher team to support eligible place-based learning experiences as a part of the benefits of participating in the SEMIS Coalition Annual Learning Series. In turn, funding recipients are asked to reflect on and share their curricular materials, project successes, and lessons learned to contribute to and strengthen our Coalition ‘commons’ of resources and best practices.

Program Overview

The current round of Place-Based Partnership Grants can support funding requests up to $500 for eligible place-based learning experiences (see below for eligibility criteria) taking place between October 11, 2024 and June 30, 2025. Broadly, Place-Based Partnership Grant funding can support:

• • Project supplies or materials needed for a place-based unit or other place-based experiences
  • Field trip experiences related to a place-based unit or other place-based experiences (i.e., transportation costs or entrance fees)
  • Stipends for community partners or other experts that will support a place-based unit or other place-based experience 

Eligibility & Funding Criteria

Requests for Place-Based Partnership Grant funds must meet the following criteria:

1. Requests must be submitted by an active SEMIS Coalition teacher, instructional coach, or administrator. Active SEMIS Coalition teachers, instructional coaches, and administrators have committed to participating in at least two of the SEMIS Annual Learning Series events (Summer Institute, Dinner & Design, Fall and Winter Professional Development) and the Community Forum, are actively working with a SEMIS Coalition Coach, and have completed a Place-Based Education Project Plan Template for the current academic year.

2. Requests must support a place-based learning experience rooted in the local community. Place-based learning experiences or units should be rooted in experiences or relationships in the Great Lakes watershed in Southeast Michigan and should use some element of the local place (physical, social, or cultural) as an anchor for learning.

3. Requests must support a place-based learning experience or unit that includes some form of youth voice. Youth voice is an important element of place-based learning and allows some element or elements of the place-based learning experience to be co-created or co-determined by students. Effective applications of youth voice support student decision making in age-appropriate ways, establish parameters for student choice, support informed choice, help students voice their opinions and perspectives, and/or demonstrate how adults are learning alongside students.

4. Requests must support a place-based learning experience or unit that includes some form of collaboration. Collaboration can include collaboration between a classroom and a community partner or partners, between multiple teachers at a school, or between multiple schools within a district or region.

Funding will be prioritized for requests that:

1. Emphasize interdisciplinary learning: Integrating across disciplines is a means of combining certain knowledge and skills imparted by distinct disciplines (e.g., science, language arts, fine arts, and social studies) to respond to a challenge or need in the real world.

2. Are rooted in EcoJustice Education: EcoJustice Education is shaped by an understanding that local and global ecosystems are essential to all life; challenging the deep cultural assumptions underlying modern thinking that undermine those systems; and the recognition of the need to restore the cultural and environmental commons. Educational efforts of students, teachers, and members of the local community learning collaboratively while engaged in revitalizing the local commons.

3. Increase equitable access to place-based education resources: Equity refers to the fair or just distribution of benefits. Equity differs from equality: equality means providing the same benefits to all, equity means recognizing that we do not all start from the same place and must acknowledge and make adjustments for imbalances or barriers that are created or upheld by bias and other systemic structures.

4. Align with the priorities of current grant funding for the SEMIS Coalition, including:

a. Meaningful Watershed Education Experiences

b. STEM and Eco-STEM Learning Experiences

c. Climate Resilience

d. Outdoor Learning

Application Process & Key Dates

To apply for a Place-Based Partnership Grant, teachers and community partners must first complete a Place-Based Education Project Plan Template for the current academic year. SEMIS Coalition Coaches are available to support you in the planning process if you have not already begun working on your project plan template with one of our coaches! Please reach out to Lisa Voelker at lvoelker@emich.edu to request coaching support and the proposal link. 

Applications for fall funding must be submitted between October 1, 2024 –  January 30, 2025. Funding will primarily be made available as a check to your school, but in certain circumstances, the SEMIS Coalition Planning Team may be able to directly purchase and provide requested materials or support. 

If additional funds are available, the SEMIS Coalition planning team may open a second round of funding on January 30, 2025 to support place-based learning experiences through June 30, 2025. 

Reporting & Coalition Contribution Requirements

To ensure that the full SEMIS Coalition can benefit from the place-based learning experiences supported by the Place-Based Partnership Grant Program, grant recipients will be asked to share stories, curricular materials, full place-based unit plans, or other lessons learned from their funded activities back with the Coalition. These resources or reflections can be provided through the Shared Stories reporting framework unless otherwise requested by the SEMIS Coalition planning team. Resources and reflections will be made available to the full Coalition and grant recipients may be asked to share their experiences or lessons learned at future professional learning events.