The Dirksen Congressional Center invites applications for the Robert H. Michel Civic Education Grants totaling $35,000 in the two selection rounds, October 2002 and May 2003, to help teachers, curriculum developers, and others improve the quality of civics instruction, with priority on the role of Congress in our federal government. Areas of interest include designing lesson plans, creating student activities, and applying instructional technology in the classroom.

Teachers (4th through 12th grades), community college faculty, and college and university faculty are eligible as are teacher-led student teams and individuals who develop curriculum. Priority will be given to the following disciplines: history, government, social studies, political science, and education.

Institutions and organizations are eligible under certain conditions. Inter-institutional consortia and other groups of individuals may apply, but grant funds may not be used to defray indirect costs or overhead expenses. The funds are intended solely to produce "deliverables" of use to classroom teachers.

Final proposals must be e-mailed or postmarked by no later than May 1, 2003. Complete information about eligibility and application procedures, can be found at The Center's Web site:
http://www.dirksencenter.org/grantmichelciviced.htm The Center does not provide an application form. You may find it helpful to review the sample grant proposal at http://www.dirksencenter.org/grantmichelcivicsample.htm Frank Mackaman is the program officer -- fmackaman@dirksencenter.org