East Aurora School District 131’s Grants Department is a multi-programmatic, grant-funded department lead by Dr. Margo Schmitt, Grants Coordinator (Email: mschmitt@d131.org).

Programmatically, we oversee multimillion, competitive and non-competitive, federal, state, and privately  funded grant programs which include:

21st Century After School Program

The 21st Century After School Program offers tutoring, homework assistance, and enrichment activities to students. A variety of enrichment activities include: reading, math, music, arts, fitness and wellness, college and career readiness, and STEM. Snacks are provided to students and transportation services are available upon request for middle school and high school students. Please contact the individual site coordinator if you have a question.

Site Coordinators:

• Allen: Lesly Merlo; Email: lmerlo@d131.org
• Bardwell: Jorge Cabadas; Email: Jorge.cabadas@family-focus.org
• Beaupre: Juana Nicasio; Email: jnicasio@d131.org
• Brady: Heather Hook; Email: hhook@d131.org
• Cowherd: Michele Dakan; Email: mdakan@d131.org
• Dieterich: Marisela Fonseca; Email: Marisela.fonseca@family-focus.org
• EAHS: Sandra Williams; Email: swilliams@d131.org
• Gates: Paola Garcia; Email: pgarcia@d131.org
• Hermes: Jorge Guerra; Email: jguerra@d131.org
• Johnson: Allan Gonzalez; Email: agonzalez@d131.org
• Krug: Leticia Espinosa; Email: lespinosa@d131.org
• O’Donnell: Yolanda Reyna; Email: yreyna@d131.org
• Oak Park: Sebastian Rodriguez; Email: srodriguez@d131.org
• Rollins: Melissa Sosa; Email: Melissa.sosa@family-focus.org
• Simmons: Melissa Diaz; Email: mdiaz@d131.org
• Waldo: Jessica Fisher; Email: jfisher@d131.org

Our partners are: 4H&Youth, H & Youth, African American Men of Unity Program, Aurora Public Library, Communities in Schools, Chasewood Learning, Family Focus, Fox Valley Orchestra (El Sistema), Fox Valley Park District, Friends of Aurora’s Afterschool Program, Girl Scouts, Great Works Reading Program, Guitar Lessons, Homan Grown, Junior Achievement, Sci-Tech Hands On Museum, Simply Destinee, The Mars Jamzz, U of I Extension, U of I at Chicago, and Valley Industrial Association.

Resources:

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21st CCLC Program Brochure21st CCLC Program Brochure –  Spanish

 

AmeriCorps

The AmeriCorps program offers service-based opportunities to the schools in our Digital Literacy and Healthy Initiative programs. Volunteers assist with literacy tutoring,  library assistance, maintaining the school gardens, providing nutritional education, coordinating food taste-tests, participating in playground renovations, and cooking classes. There are 35 volunteers serving the district annually.

Program Manager: Darlene Dear; Email: Ddear@d131.org

Our partners are: Midwest Dairy Council/Fuel Up to Play 60 and Homan Grown.

Resources:

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Americorps Brochure

 

Career and Technical Education

Career and Technical Education is funded through multiple grant sources focused on expanding students’ college and career skills. The current curricula focuses on Family and Consumer Sciences, Technology, Business, Woods, and Manufacturing.  Various funders have helped make these programs possible!

High School Department Chair: Shawn O’Donnell; Email: Sodonnell@d131.org

Career Center Counselor at EAHS: Mr. Andrew Rathje; Email: arathje@d131.org

Grant Manager: Dr. Margo Schmitt; Email: mschmitt@d131.org

 

I Love Libraries 

During the 2018-2019, the Grants Department has implemented the I Love Libraries initiative. The program has focused on providing EASD 131’s libraries and their librarians additional resources. The resources include: increased staffing, longer hours, reading incentive programs, and moving towards our libraries becoming learning commons/labs.

Our partner is the Aurora Public Library.

 

Health and Wellness 

The Health and Wellness initiative is a comprehensive, multi-pronged program focusing on: nutrition and nutritional education, physical education, and gardens. The project is funded through multiple funding sources.

The nutritional program includes:
Fresh Fruit and Vegetables Program held every Tuesday and Thursday in some elementary schools. Funded by ISBE’s Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program.
Cooking Matters: A cooking class in the after-school program funded by the USDA Farm to School and the Healthy Initiatives grant.
After-school snacks supported by Northern Illinois Food bank.
School-based food pantries implemented by Marie Wilkinson Food Pantry.
Blessings in a Backpack at three of our elementary school.

The physical education program includes:
Additional professional development sessions, including Pump Up to PE, a new cycling lab,  additional physical education equipment, and supplementary programming.

The garden program includes:
The USDA Farm to School and additional garden grants supporting  five food and two-pollinator gardens. In addition, we have 38 hydroponic plants district-wide. East Aurora School District 131 has been a featured case study by Seventh Generations Ahead.

Program Manager: Dr. Margo Schmitt; Email: mschmitt@d131.org

Our partners are: Kane County Fit for Kids, Action for Healthy Kids, Midwest Dairy Council, Fuel Up to Play, USDA Farm to School,  Seventh Generations Ahead, VNA Healthcare, Marie Wilkinson Food Pantry, Blessings in a Backpack, Northern Illinois Food Bank.

For In-District Funding Requests

For in-district funding requests, East Aurora School District employees should contact the district’s grant writer, Julie Frankino Email: jfrankino@d131.org. Specific grant requests based on the availability are subject to district-level administrative approval.

 

Resources:

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School Gardens BrochureIFSN Garden Case Study

Dr. Margo Schmitt

Grant Coordinator
(630) 299-5516
mschmitt@d131.org

Julie Frankino

Grant Writer
(630) 299-5515
jfrankino@d131.org

Iliana Bueno

Grant Secretary
(630) 299-7267
ibueno@d131.org

Darlene Dear

AmeriCorps Program Manager
(630) 299-5514
ddear@d131.org

Noemi Vargas

After School Program Manager for EASD 131 schools
(630) 299-5518
nvargas01@d131.org

Violet Flores

After School Program Manager for Family Focus schools
(630) 256-7037
violet.flores@family-focus.org

Tina Moore

After School Program Assistant
(630) 299-7307
tmoore@d131.org