Blue Lake already possessed at least five levels of "Read Naturally," a highly regarded but expensive reading program, Ms. MacCoy says. Before the grant, one teaching assistant was working with four students at a time on the program. A fellow teacher at the school explained how a small investment of money and volunteer time could make "Read Naturally" accessible to many more struggling readers. "She planted the seed," Ms. MacCoy recalls. After writing the grant request and gaining approval, Ms. MacCoy purchased battery-powered CD players -- about $21 each at Walmart -- plus kitchen timers and batteries, in order for children to listen to the program individually through headphones the school already owned. Getting volunteer hours from Daytona State College education majors was part of the grant-writing process.

"The results are wonderful. They always are," Ms. MacCoy says. "A lot of times, students get dropped because they're doing so well, and we pick up others." Students "graduating" from the program are sad to go, but a prize box helps. Some of the most popular items in the box this cool winter were hats and mittens knitted by "Read Naturally" volunteer  Mrs. Linda Duchesneau -- the children call her Mrs. D.

At Deltona's Sunrise Elementary, kindergarten teacher Ms. Amie Metz-Dalton's students have been using Math Learning Bags, created with a $1,200 Mini-Grant, almost since the beginning of the school term. "They are giving our students more of an opportunity to do hands-on activities and increasing memory skills," Ms. Metz-Dalton says. 

"Beverly Habig, as well as Jamie Hinson and Karen Sarokon, are members of my team who helped in getting this Mini-Grant," she adds. The 85 bags include hands-on manipulatives to help with 2D and 3D shapes, sorting materials and sorting trays, felt pieces with numbers on them to help with number recognition and counting, dice games to help with counting, tangible materials for counting, and graphs for graphing skills. "They have been a tremendous resource for our math centers.  We have seen a huge improvement in all of our students' scores because of them."

FUTURES awarded 103 Mini-Grants to Volusia County Schools teachers during a presentation at Mainland High School in Daytona Beach at the end of 2009. A total of $60,385 was awarded to teachers in amounts ranging from $150 to $1,500. Over 25 years of community support, FUTURES has funded more than 2,200 such Mini-Grants, totaling $1,126,681, thanks to generous sponsors.