Valley View In the Running for National Grant

With a little more than two weeks left until deadline, Valley View Elementary School is just 49 spots away from receiving a $50,000 grant.

The elementary school is in the running for a grant from the Pepsi Refresh Project – a program in which Pepsi awards a total of $1.3 million in grants every month.

Awards are chosen by votes. Each person can vote every day until June 30. Grant recipients are announced on July 1. As of Sunday, the school ranks 51 of 1,000.

If Valley View wins, the school will purchase supplemental software that supports its Language Arts textbook adoption for the school's English Only and Dual Immersion programs, said Principal Rafael Cruz.

"The software presents possibilities for classroom teachers to go above and beyond the regular realm of basic instructional materials through the use of technology," Cruz said.

Diane Anderson, a parent who wrote Valley View's grant application, said the software will be accessible at school and at home, which, she said, will further benefit children and their families.

Parents and staff deemed the software necessary and beneficial after various meetings. Anderson said parents felt the  software would be a long-term benefit for the school because it is available in English and Spanish.

The Dual Immersion Program at Valley View has been present for 12 years, Cruz said. The program immerses native Spanish speakers and native English speakers in a classroom setting where both languages are used.

About 50 percent of the school's population, or approximately 350 students, in grades K-5 participates in the program, Cruz said.

Anderson's three children at Valley View participate in the Dual Immersion Program. She said that besides the benefit of learning another language, her children are becoming better problem solvers by learning that there are always two ways to solve a problem.

Each month, businesses, organizations and schools from all over the country submit grant applications to fund ideas that will make a positive impact, according to the Pepsi Refresh Project website.

Past grant recipients ideas' range from rebuilding grade schools that have been destroyed to building shelters for animals in need and giving therapeutic tricycles to children with disabilities.

In the past week, Valley View has ranked as high between 46 and 51. Only 1,000 applications are accepted in the four levels of funding.

School administrators and parents said they are very excited to be ranking in the top 50 of 1,000 applicants, but emphasized that they are still in need of votes.

"We need to finish in the top 10 in order to get funded," Cruz said.

Votes can be submitted at http://www.refresheverything.com/valleyvieweducationalsoftware. A valid e-mail is needed in order to vote.