BROSIOUS Teaching Grant
Enhancing the Rigor of the Curriculum or Instruction within the School District
In 1997, Mr. Rutherford Brosious gave a $1,000,000 endowment to the White Bear Lake Area Educational Foundation in recognition of the high quality education he had received in White Bear Lake. Because he felt very strongly about the positive impact teachers have on their students, he directed a portion of the yearly income from the endowment be used to fund grants from applications of teachers or groups of teachers. The purpose of a Brosious Teaching Grant is to impact student learning and enhance the rigor of the curriculum or instruction within the school district.
Applicant Eligibility & GRANT TERMS
Application deadline: Tuesday, October 21, 2025
Who May Apply:
Applications will be accepted from licensed teachers or groups of licensed teachers who are currently employed by the White Bear Lake Area School District, including but not limited to teachers, social workers, counselors, and psychologists. If you are unsure whether you are eligible, please call the Foundation office.
Prior to completing this application for approval the applicant must verify that the building principal and/or district directors (i. e. curriculum, technology, student support, equity) do not have the necessary funds to support the request.
Selection Process:
The White Bear Lake Area Educational Foundation’s Program Committee will review Brosious Teaching Grant applications and make recommendations to the White Bear Lake Area Educational Foundation (WBLAEF) Board of Directors for final approval. This committee will select those proposals which strengthen student learning by enhancing the rigor of the curriculum or instruction within the classroom.
The Foundation reserves the right to limit repeated applications for the same grant requests in consecutive years.
Once the grant has been approved by the WBLAEF Board of Directors, no further changes can be made to the application.
Types of Fellowships:
Individual Fellowship: Individual teachers may apply for a grant of up to $3,000.
Team Fellowship: This fellowship is a maximum $3,000 per team. Team members do not have to be from the same school. Teams may not apply individually.
Terms:
Grant applications are accepted from licensed teachers or groups of licensed teachers for academic projects in all subject areas for up to $3,000.
The grant committee will select those proposals which best improve the quality of educational programs for students and adhere to state guidelines. If the grant committee would like more information about your proposal, you may be contacted.
All projects must address a need that will increase the rigor of the learning experience for students. The identified need must be aligned with the instructional goals of the White Bear Lake Area School District and must be measurable.
Projects will be evaluated based on their potential to impact instruction.
Proposals must describe quantitative or qualitative methods for evaluating the success of the project. This description must be stated in the proposal.
In the case of a team-based proposal, a lead applicant must be designated to assume overall responsibility for the project, and all correspondence will be directed to that person.
If a recipient is not employed by the district at the time the award is funded or a recipient is unable to accept the award, the funds will revert to the Brosious Grant fund. In the case of a team grant, the committee will make a decision as to the amount of funding available to the remaining team members, taking into consideration individual circumstances.
If a member of a team can no longer participate in the grant, the funds will be redistributed among the other members of the team. However, once the grant has been awarded, a replacement member cannot be added to the team.
Simultaneous funding of different projects for the same individual, department, or team during one grant period is not allowed.
Projects are funded for twelve months. Any remaining funds in the account after that date will be returned to the Brosious Grant Fund.
Grant funds may not be used in place of regular, budgeted funds from tax-based sources, such as equipment or capital outlays unless there are no available district funds to support the request.
Projects do not cover requests for obtaining college credits, professional development, seminars, workshops, conferences, curriculum writing, or meals.
If requesting grant approval for an off-campus hands-on learning experience for students, transportation fees are not eligible for funding.
Products purchased with the Brosious grant money become the property of the district, not the individual(s). The products must remain in the building or department.
Partial grant funding: It is not always possible for the selection committee to fully fund a grant request. Please indicate in the application if partial funding will allow you to complete the requested development experience. The committee understands that there are some requests that require full funding in order to be completed. Your answer to this question will not negatively affect consideration of your request.
Expenses are reimbursed after submitting a reimbursement form with copies of the receipts to the WBLAEF office. CLICK HERE to submit the reimbursement request.
Within two months of the project’s completion, a written results-based evaluation of the project or a 3 to 5 minute presentation to the WBLAEF Board must be submitted or scheduled with the WBLAEF office. CLICK HERE to submit the evaluation.
Failure to complete an evaluation or presentation may disqualify the recipient(s) from consideration for further grants.
Questions? - Please contact the WBLAEF office at 651-407-7696.
APPLY HERE
Complete the online application below and submit. Please have your building principal review the project prior to submitting this application, with agreement that the project aligns with district goals.