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Heading ‘Back to School’
Grant opportunities make Iowa a great place
Disaster recovery grants for the
arts
Internship grants for local
businesses
Community grants for home
weatherization
Grants will further Charles City projects
Local Iowans honored for heroism
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It’s a sure sign that summer is coming to an end when
students, parents and teachers prepare to head back to school.
Support for our local schools is a top priority of the
people in our Senate district, and it’s an issue I’ve worked on at the Iowa
Statehouse. Our recent efforts are
improving student achievement by keeping the best teachers in Iowa classrooms, increasing accountability, and making
quality preschool accessible to all Iowa
kids.
I’m looking forward to seeing these successes firsthand
when I visit local classrooms as part of America's Legislators Back to
School Program.
This national effort, sponsored by the nonpartisan National
Conference of State Legislatures, teaches young people what it's like to be a
legislator. Every year, more than 1,400 state
lawmakers visit an estimated 320,000 students in their classrooms, bringing
civics to life for our young Americans and encouraging them to play an active
role in their government.
It also gives me the opportunity to meet personally with
young constituents, answer questions, share ideas and listen to concerns.
I am setting up my visits for the upcoming school year and
am interested in visiting any elementary, junior high and high school classroom
that would have me. If you’d like me
to come to your school at any time throughout the year, call me at 641-424-0874
or e-mail me at amanda.ragan@legis.state.ia.us.
The Iowa Arts Council has received a $100,000 grant from
the National Endowment for the Arts for Iowa artists and arts organizations
recovering from storm damage.
Some of the dollars will go to the 2008 Emergency Arts
Relief program, which provides up to $500 for immediate recovery needs.
Others will be used for larger grants and stipends generally ranging from
$3,000 - $6,000.
Disaster-affected Iowa
artists and Iowa
arts organizations that are nonprofit, federally tax-exempt, and located in a
state- or federally-declared disaster area are eligible to apply. Complete information and applications are available
at www.iowaartscouncil.org.
Working with Iowa
young people can be a great win-win opportunity for local businesses. The Iowa Student Internship Program is now
accepting applications from local businesses interested in providing
internships to Iowa
college students.
Companies are eligible to apply for up to three internships,
which are worth $3,100 each. The program is available to Iowa-based companies
that:
- Have
fewer than 500 employees, with a significant portion employed within Iowa in
biosciences, advanced manufacturing or information technology.
- Offer
internships to students of Iowa
community colleges, private colleges, or regent institutions within two
years of graduation.
- Create
a substantive working experience for interns in research and
development, engineering, process management and production, product
experimentation and analysis, product development, market research,
business planning and administration.
For more information, visit www.iowalifechanging.com/business/innov&comm.html
The Iowa Utilities Board is coordinating a community-based
initiative to weatherize homes for Iowans in need before the winter heating
season.
A community grant of up to $5,000 is available for
communities with a population of 10,000 or less to educate residents on
weatherization and energy efficiency.
The Utilities Board is also offering matching grants of up
to $500 to organizations throughout Iowa.
These grants are to be used to weatherize homes and provide educational
materials for Iowa’s
low-income families, elderly or disabled individuals.
More information is available at www.state.ia.us/iub.
Charles
City projects were
recently awarded grant money through the Iowa Great Places initiative. The Carrie Chapman Catt Home received $95,410
to complete construction of the Education
Center and improve the
infrastructure around the site. Riverfront Park got $202,590 to create a vibrant
park complete with a kayak rodeo course.
Iowa Great Places combines state government resources with
local assets to help Iowans make their neighborhoods, communities and regions
better places to live, work and raise a family. Funding for the grants was approved by the
Legislature and awarded through a competitive application process. Learn more at www.iowagreatplaces.gov.
On Aug. 8, Gov. Culver held his annual Lifesaving Awards
Ceremony at the Iowa State Fair. Among
those honored were:
- Tianna
Sullivan of Osage, who received a Meritorious Award for rescuing a woman
from freezing temperatures on January 19.
- Kurt
Walderbach of Mason City, who received a Lifesaving with Valor Award for
helping to save the life of a man trapped in a vehicle that was
submerged in icy water on Dec. 5, 2007.
- Thomas
Christiansen of Mason City, who received the Meritorious Award for
assisting a seriously wounded and bleeding man on April 26.
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