Taking things for "granted" at Richland Schools

ESSEX, Mo. -- It's only his second year in the classroom, but Kyle Carter is making a definite difference in the lives of students at Richland High School.

During his initial year of teaching in 2013-14, Carter heard about the availability of a vocational grant opportunity through the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) and decided to take a shot at it. Through the enhancement grant, DESE will pay 75% of the cost of new equipment and hardware with the school district paying the final 25%. Other purchases like software for computers and places to store the equipment are paid at a rate of 50-50.

"The grant is designed for educators in the business field, the agricultural field or the area of family and consumer science to be able to enhance their classrooms. Any teacher in one of these three areas is eligible to apply for the grant. Last year our Ag Science teacher, Jarrod Basler, applied for and received a similar grant from the same program."

"I spent about seven months writing the grant proposal," he says. "I wanted to make sure to be as detailed as I could be, since I didn't know if it would be evaluated by another educator or by someone not closely connected with the classroom setting. I wanted them to understand not only how my classroom runs, but the purpose of each piece of equipment that I included in the grant application, so that there would be no questions as to why we needed a particular piece of equipment."

Carter wears a number of hats at Richland Schools. He teaches two Business Technology classes at the same time, Desktop Publishing, Intro to Business, Junior High Computers, Web Design, and even a class on computer keyboarding to kindergarteners through second graders.

He began the process of applying for the DESE Enhancement Grant by stating the needs for his diverse classroom. The focus of his application was to equip his Desktop Publishing class. The primary task of students in the Publishing class is to put together --from cover to cover -- the school's annual yearbook. The project requires significant work on the part of the students in Carter's classroom. Photos are the mainstay of any yearbook, and Richland's is no exception. Carter and the 10 students in his Desktop Publishing class attended virtually every sports and student activity throughout the school year in order to compile the annual. In the 2013-2014 edition of Richland's annual, Carter stated that they used over 2000 individual images, most of which were taken by his staff.

"The kids work incredibly hard on the yearbook. It takes a lot of legwork, organizational skills, time, advertisers and equipment," he attests.

Equipment is what Carter's enhancement grant application was all about -- specifically, camera equipment -- and lots of it.

A typical grant writer will request more than what he or she expects to be awarded, and Carter held true to that tradition. He asked for equipment with a total worth of $187,000, but admittedly hoped that even a fraction would be granted.

"I submitted the grant application in February. It was one day in July when I checked my school email and had a response. We'd gotten the grant. I was ecstatic. I knew this would mean I would be better equipped to prepare my students, not only for building the yearbook, but also for them to learn a life skill - and learn it well."

And so the process began of purchasing some of the gear Carter had itemized in his grant proposal.

"I asked for $187,000 and was awarded $104,000," he explains, "which is phenomenal."

By the start of the school year in mid-August, Carter's classroom housed what is likely the largest state of the art collection of photographic equipment in the state at a high school setting.

Among Carter's purchases are two Canon 1Dx bodies, two Canon 70D bodies, two Canon T5i bodies, and the list goes on - its does include lens too like a Canon 400 f/2.8 for low light sports settings and four Pocket Wizards, so the students can remotely fire cameras. For camera buffs, the list reads like a "Who's Who" in the world of digital photography.

Computers, software packages and more photographic accessories are also included among the purchased items and on the list of items yet to find their way to Carter's Richland classroom. Carter even managed to secure a 12TB NAS as a backup for all the data that will be created by his class.

A concern surfaced early on in the grant writing process with regard to securing the safety of the massive amount of equipment coming to a very rural setting like Richland. That problem was easily solved with the purchase of a Liberty 35 John Deere gun safe. The safe has been retrofitted and holds all of the newly purchased equipment and more.

"I actually wrote the safe into the grant," explained Carter. "I told them what size I wanted and why I wanted that particular one. There were no questions once they read the explanation."

Carter is accountable for every dime spent from the grant money. As purchases are made, receipts are presented to DESE. Student computers will be requisitioned in October, but he says he will not spend the entire amount that the school was given.

"It's not unusual to give some of the grant money back," he explains, "and that's what we plan to do. What we do not spend will be returned to DESE and will be placed back in the funds that will be distributed next year."

Carter also explained, "The grant can be applied for every three years. This gear will certainly do us well for many years to come, but I'm already planning what I want to write into my grant for the 2017-18 school year."

"I've got to say thank you to our School Board," finished Carter. "There are not a lot of school boards out there that will allow a teacher, especially one in just their second year, to aspire to something greater than the status quo. Most focus on books, grounds and personnel - and while ours certainly does that, they've also given me the freedom to dream big for my students. They've got skin in the game on this too - as they are footing 25% of the bill - and I've got to say thank you to them for showing this support in me and in the dreams of my Desktop Publishing students. I can honestly say with the equipment we've been allotted, we are only limited by our imagination as to what we can now create."

For Carter's students, the grant has afforded an opportunity to soar in the fields of digital photography and composition. Among Richland's 2014 graduates is a student who is beginning her first year in college and through her reputation at Richland, and photography tutelage from Carter, has been asked to work on the college yearbook -- a highly unusual honor for an incoming freshman. Another one of Carter's students, his assistant editor for this year's book, is in the finals for two different awards for a photograph he took during Richland's graduation in May. Others plan careers in the field of computer technology, photography, and in the publishing arena -- each with a little head start and a lot of inspiration from their alma mater in Essex, Mo.