Bright Minds Grants

Bright Minds Grants is a grant from the Bright Minds Foundation that funds innovative classroom and school projects by educators in the Howard County Public School System (HCPSS) in Maryland. Since 2009, the program has awarded competitive annual grants to teachers and staff to support student success, enhance teaching practices, strengthen school communities, and pilot projects that could be adopted more broadly.

Funded projects span STEM, diversity and inclusion, fine arts, business and entrepreneurship, civic awareness, and other topics. Eligible applicants are all teachers and staff employed within HCPSS. Award amounts vary by project scope.

The program accepts applications annually with grants awarded to selected HCPSS educators each school year. Visit the Bright Minds Foundation website for current grant cycle details and application information.

Staff & Teacher Grants – Bright Minds Foundation HCPSS educators are incredible resources to identify innovative approaches to support student success and enhance learning outcomes Bright Minds began offering competitive teacher grants in 2009 to help educators support student success, improve school communities, enhance teaching practices, and pilot projects that can be considered for broader implementation.

Competitive annual grants are open to all teachers and staff, and projects have focused on STEM; diversity and inclusion; business and entrepreneurship; civic awareness; fine arts; and other topics. Classroom Project Grant not only support student success, but also enrich teaching practices, strengthen school communities, and pilot important classroom projects.

Granted to HCPSS educators Students participating in projects last year HCPSS educators who have received grants 2025 Bright Minds Classroom Grants Tricia Adkinson & Maggie Malone Thomas Viaduct Middle School “I Like to Move It, Move It”: Regulation Room The Student Services team will build a transformative space with exercise equipment, tools, and prompts where students can move through tough emotions while experiencing personal growth in a safe, restorative space.

Mt. Hebron, River Hill, Oakland Mills, & Howard High Schools Building Foundations for Lifelong Learning and Engagement Through Self-Regulation and Functional Motor Skill Development Occupational therapists work with high school students with disabilities to develop essential skills in executive functioning, self-regulation, and functional motor skills, towards postsecondary success.

Mary Barbeito & Sarah Barone The Growth Zone: Elevate Your Mind, Empower Your Life The Student Services Team will facilitate mentoring discussions with small groups of female students in grades 10-12 who are often overlooked but face emotional or academic challenges, focusing on self-awareness, study skills, communication, and positive peer relationships.

Oakland Mills Middle School VR Voices: Language Learning in the Metaverse Multilingual learner middle schoolers will use MetaQuest 3, an immersive virtual reality program, to boost their confidence and build English vocabulary through real-world conversational environments.

Rockburn Elementary School Using hands-on materials, students can connect in a semi-structured, non-academic way each morning to foster a sense of calm and belonging as they transition into the full academic day.

Oakland Mills High School Restoring Community & Building Leaders through Choral Singing Through a holistic approach that integrates musical skill development, leadership training, and community-building, this 2-day summer music enrichment camp will help students regain confidence in their voices, strengthen social-emotional connections, and foster a renewed sense of belonging.

Students earn the opportunity to buy fun prizes by earning “Falcon feathers” by demonstrating their school values of respect, positive relationships, and learning strategies.

Deep Run Elementary School Classroom Calming Corner Kits Blossoms of Hope will partner with Deep Run ES to design and build calming corners in each classroom, where students experiencing stress, anxiety or sensory overload can access age-appropriate items to help them calm down, self-regulate, and remain included in classroom learning.

Hanover Hills Elementary School Students use agency and decision-making skills during hands-on mathematics activities to better understand “the big ideas” in counting principles, foundational place value, skip counting, and number decomposition.

Worthington Elementary School Screen-Free Listening Centers: Hands-On Audiobooks Educators will build early literacy skills and foster independence for multilingual learners and students with disabilities, by enhancing Pre-K listening centers with Yoto Mini Player and WonderBook devices and audiobook recordings.

Portable Dome Planetarium Students will have a unique opportunity to connect with the night sky in real-time, enabling them to observe stars, planets, and other celestial phenomena during the school day via the Robinson Nature Center’s 6-foot portable planetarium dome.

Monica Heinlein & Christina Salapata Manor Woods Elementary School Zen Zones: Schoolwide Regulation Spaces School counseling team will provide training for staff, as well as a set of materials, to implement and maintain a self-regulation space in their classrooms.

Alison Holcombe, Jamie Saperstein, Dawn Urian, & Whitney Frey Triadelphia Ridge Elementary School Yoto Listening Centers to Promote Early Literacy Skills Kindergarten teachers will record interactive read-alouds on blank Yoto cards aligned with the “Being a Reader” curriculum, to promote fluency, comprehension, and vocabulary acquisition through engaging listening experiences.

Lauren Honza & Tonya Kyler Hollifield Station Elementary School Ron Clark Academy ‘Houses’ Model for PBIS This whole-school PBIS program will create a dynamic, engaging culture to foster student accountability, collaboration, and school pride.

Erin Isch & Melody Green-Lewis First Generation to College Cohort Mentorship, college application support, career counseling, and a college visit field trip for first-generation Howard High School students. Flow of Genetic Information Hands-on biology class activities to build students’ knowledge in genetics, including DNA code, RNA code, through protein synthesis.

Veterans Elementary School PenPower-Reading Inclusion for ALL Multilingual learners and students with reading challenges will receive real-time language support by using a WorldPenScan to receive text-to-speech voice readings, and translations, through Bluetooth headphones, leading to more interactive and accessible learning experiences.

Theresa McClain & Heather Moore Bellows Spring Elementary School Creating Wonder around Reading with WonderBooks Builds a collection of diverse and engaging audiobooks in the media center for students to use during independent reading time.

Lake Elkhorn Middle School A safe space for 7th and 8th grade female students to explore their own identities, their interests, and their connections to others, while learning about real-world entrepreneurship and the role of local small businesses in their communities.

Katie Palmateer & Dr. Laura Cometa Advancing Multilingual Literacy By building a collection of high-interest multilingual books in the media center, this space will transform into a welcoming, engaging space for multilingual learners to develop their literacy skills while fostering a love of reading, leading to increased academic success and lifelong learning.

Students participating in Cedar Lane’s Horticulture Program will utilize ladybugs as beneficial insects in the school greenhouse as an alternative to pesticides.

Stacy Rosuck & Sanika Shah (Centennial High School Student) Hearts In Action “Mind Matters” Initiative School club that promotes mental health awareness, emotional well-being, and social responsibility among high school students while strengthening connections within the broader community.

Empowering high school students with visual impairments to perform their own home repairs, home maintenance and gardening tasks using basic hand tools.

Dana Scott, Sarah Lynch & Megan Scharmann Oakland Mills High School Bridging the Gap for Multilingual Learners Through monthly professional learning sessions, teachers will build their knowledge and skills in evidence-based strategies to support multilingual learners (MLs) while also learning how to build community within their classrooms.

Worthington Elementary School Expanding HCPSS’ Cadre of Trained SPACE Facilitators A school counselor will have the opportunity to become a trained facilitator for the Yale Child Center’s S. P. A.

C. E. model: Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions.

Jennifer Vining, La Tanya Robinson, & Stephanie Reynolds Combating Student Anxiety by Empowering Parents-Implementing Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions (SPACE) Groups in Schools Implementing 7-week parent intervention groups based on the Yale Child Center’s S. P. A.

C. E. model: Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions.

Kim Wade, Lindsey Miles, Kyle Schofield, Marian Hoyt, & Ryleigh Carr Guilford Park High School Guilford Park Day of Service The 9th Grade Team designed a fun and meaningful ‘Day of Service’ activity where students participated in a shared experience to benefit the community, while building relationships with one another and earning service learning hours. Other Bright Minds Projects