2024-25 Greater Kansas City FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) Season Grant: Guidelines & Grant Application

2024-25 Greater Kansas City FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) Season Grant: Guidelines & Grant Application
The KC STEM Alliance is pleased to announce the availability of grants to support and increase student participation in FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) in the following counties: Johnson and Wyandotte in Kansas; and Cass, Clay, Jackson, and Platte in Missouri.

* If, for any reason, you are unable to use this form or upload a budget, please contact KC STEM Alliance at kcstem@kcstem.org
Email*
Grant Award Range and Timeline
Last year's FRC Season Grants averaged $2,091 and ranged from $450-$4,400.

The amount will be determined based on the number of applications, the evaluation of applications by a grant review board, and the total amount of grant funds available.

Timeline of Season Grants:
- FRC Application Deadline: September 20, 2024
- Notification of Award: Week of October 7-11, 2024
Check will arrive at district within approximately 30 days of our receipt of your invoice.
Our Funding Priorities
Eligible teams include: K-12 public or private schools and non-profit community organizations that serve low-income students and/or traditionally underserved communities. In addition, limited funding is available for rookie (first year) or young teams, those new to fundraising and those doing exceptional STEM outreach. For the purpose of this grant, low-income schools are defined as schools serving a population of at least 40% of students eligible for free or reduced lunch. Funds for this initiative originate from the generosity of multiple local funders to the KC STEM Alliance.

The number and amount of grants awarded will depend upon the number and type of applications received and awards will be decided by a grants committee.
Grant Goals
The goal of these grants is to sustain robotics programs in under-served communities, facilitate recent start-up teams, and encourage teams doing STEM outreach. Successful applications will address a diverse socio-economic school environment; increased student engagement in STEM education through FIRST Robotics; commitment to the development of student teams; recruitment of volunteer mentors; designing and building of remote-controlled robots; and, participation in one of the FRC Regionals in the Kansas City region (Heartland, Greater Kansas City, or Central Missouri).
Allowable Expenses and Activities
This cash grant will be paid to the team’s school district or FIRST fiscal agent (non-profit, 501(c) (3) organization). Examples of allowable expenses and activities include: team registration for competitions and tournament fees, team travel expenses, materials or tools required by the team in order to construct their robot, stipends for coaches or mentors, outreach expenses including costs associated with recruiting students and increasing parental and community support for the program.
About Advancement Grants
Please note that the KC STEM Alliance, pending the availability of funding, intends to award another round of funds in the form of Advancement Grants to teams from the 6-county metro who qualify for the next level of competition (e.g. Worlds Championship for FRC) from an official event in the Kansas/Western Missouri Region. Advancement Grants for advancing teams are awarded after all regional competitions are over.

KC STEM Alliance will only award Advancement Grants to teams that applied and qualified for this Season Grant.

For FRC, the Advancement Grant is $500-$1000 (amount in this range is based on need as shown in the Season Grant application).
Schools and Programs That Receive This Grant Agree To:
1. Attend and participate in one of the Kansas City FIRST Robotics Competition regionals. Grantees who fail to participate in a FIRST Robotics Competition regional must return any awarded grant funds to KC STEM Alliance by May 31, 2025.
2. Develop and execute plans to increase participation of traditionally under-served students, such as, participation in outreach programming or volunteer at regional events (this can include set-up), or provide support for outreach/mentoring efforts with KC STEM Alliance.
3. Submit an end-of-the-year report that indicates which event(s) the team attended and the level of success in regards to increasing student participation in FIRST activities and events.
4. Please include a final team budget for the current Season indicating actual revenue and expenses for the season. A form will be provided. (Deadline for final report submission: 5:00 p.m., May 31, 2025.)
5. Participate in data collection and evaluation activities conducted by the KC STEM Alliance.
Terms of Grant:
1. Application deadline: The deadline to submit an application for FIRST team support is 5:00 p.m. September 20, 2024 for FRC teams. Applications should include a grant application form and a budget worksheet to be considered complete.

2. Grants will be determined and notification made during the week of October 7-11, 2024 for FRC teams. Funds will be distributed following notification and upon receipt of invoice from school district or fiscal agent. A sample invoice will be emailed along with grant award notification.

3. Additional funds may be available to teams that advance through the FIRST Championship system and complete this application. Other grants may be available through KC STEM Alliance or through other regional or national funders to teams that demonstrate financial need.

4. Teams receiving grants must submit a final report to the KC STEM Alliance no later than May 31, 2025.

5. Teams who do not submit necessary forms and data jeopardize eligibility for future grants. Teams must be in current good standing with KC STEM Alliance grant reporting requirements for grants received from KC STEM Alliance in previous seasons.
About FIRST
FIRST® (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) is a national program that partners locally with companies and schools to create challenging after school activities that give students ages 6-18 an exciting platform for discovering career opportunities in STEM. The robotics-based competitions including FIRST Robotics Competition, FIRST LEGO League and FIRST Tech Challenge offer the technology leaders of tomorrow a chance to show off their skills, imagination and gracious professionalism. This year, close to 98,000 students are served by programs like PLTW-Kansas City and Kansas City FIRST in Greater Kansas City. For more information, visit https://www.kcstem.org/what-we-do/
About KC STEM Alliance
The KC STEM Alliance is a collaborative network of educators, business affiliates and organizations that inspires interest in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math careers to generate a robust force of related professionals for our community. The KC STEM Alliance connects schools, industry partners and affiliate organizations, such as Project Lead the Way (PLTW) and FIRST, by streamlining and simplifying communications for everyone involved. Further, by acting as a hub and resource for the local STEM community, the KC STEM Alliance serves to allocate resources where they are needed – helping to build a more diverse and broad base of support for STEM curriculum and programs. For more information, visit www.kcstem.org.

FIRST Team Number*
FIRST Team Name*
Age of Team*
School District/Organization*
School Name (if applicable)
If you are NOT associated with a Kansas or Missouri Public School, do you have a metric such as Free & Reduced Lunch that represents the economic level of student body you serve? If yes, please explain below. If no, please enter No (Public Schools - The KC STEM Alliance will use the Department of Education published statistic.)
County*

Johnson (Kansas)Wyandotte (Kansas)Cass (Missouri)Clay (Missouri)Jackson (Missouri)Platte (Missouri)
Program/Team Contact Name*
Program/Team Contact Email*
District Administrator/Principal Name (for non-school teams, please provide a second Team Contact)*
District Administrator/Principal Email*
Financial Contact*
Financial Contact Email*
Projected number of student participants during 2024-25 Season*
Projected number of female participants during 2024-25 Season*
Projected number of mentors during 2024-25 Season*
Grant amount requested (not to exceed $3500 for FRC)*
Total projected expense budget*
Please provide a brief description of your school or organization's team, including a summary about the students to be served by this grant.*
Describe what efforts your school or organization is making to increase student participation in FIRST: (Examples include: presentation to community organizations, open houses for prospective team members, outreach efforts to middle and elementary schools, recruitment of women and/or minority mentors, hosting events with community organizations, volunteering at KC STEM Events like Remake Learning Days or FLL qualifiers.) *
Describe any additional STEM outreach outside of FIRST.*
Please describe any special challenges/circumstances that apply to your team.*
Briefly describe your team's fundraising efforts and any challenges toward meeting your budget goal.*
What type of support, including financial support, do you expect to receive from your school district or organization? (Examples include: teacher stipends, transportation to events, grants or cash support for equipment, etc.)*
Please list all other financial support including any in-kind contributions that you expect to receive for the coming season (please include any outstanding requests for financial assistance).*

Project Budget
Please download Budget Worksheet, Complete, and Save to Desktop.

Budget Worksheet: https://www.kcstem.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/KC-STEM-FIRST-Grant-Proposed-Budget-Worksheet-Template.xlsx

Then add file below:
Add completed Budget Worksheet Here:*

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2024-25 Greater Kansas City FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) Season Grant: Guidelines & Grant Application

Grant Award Range and Timeline

Our Funding Priorities

Grant Goals

Allowable Expenses and Activities

About Advancement Grants

Schools and Programs That Receive This Grant Agree To:

Terms of Grant:

About FIRST

About KC STEM Alliance

Project Budget

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