News Flash!

The Carol M. White Physical Education Program PEP grant application for 2010 went live on Friday (6/18) on the Department of Education’s website. 

Many of our customers may be working to apply for this grant as a means of promoting health and fitness among youth in their communities.  The purpose of the PEP grant is to assist local educational agencies (LEAs) and community based organizations (CBOs) to initiate, expand, or enhance physical education programs that help students in kindergarten through 12th grade meet their state standards for physical education.  This year, $39,000,000 in the form of 93 grants (average award $427,000) is expected to be distributed. The grant application deadline is July 19, 2010 at 4:30 p.m. EST.

1.     Customer’s first priority: Get registered! In order to apply for a grant, applicants must complete the Grants.gov registration process. The registration process for an Organization or an Individual can take between three to five business days or as long as four weeks if all steps are not completed in a timely manner. To register, visit http://www07.grants.gov/applicants/get_registered.jsp.
2.     Your customers can access a document detailing information and application procedures, tech support conference calls, and more at http://www.ed.gov/programs/whitephysed/applicant.html.
3.     Apply online! http://e-grants.ed.gov/egWelcome.asp

PlayCore Products and PEP
The Department of Education's website on PEP funding does clearly address playgrounds and explains that the funding is NOT for building new playgrounds or facilities, but that "equipment" CAN be purchased as part of a cohesive program. The applicant needs to keep in mind that the grant is about measurable outcomes and advancing fitness education through a comprehensive program. The Department of Education site states that the PEP grant provides funding for the development and implementation of physical education programs. As a result, funds are provided for curriculum development, teacher training, student fitness assessments, data collection and evaluations. While equipment purchases are allowable, successful grant applicants propose programs that address various aspects of a comprehensive physical education program.  Per the Department of Education, the applicant should take the following priorities into consideration when applying for the grant:

Absolute Priority: The absolute priority for this program requires that an applicant propose a program that will address its State‘s physical education standards and develop, expand, or improve its physical education program for students kindergarten through grade 12 by undertaking instruction in healthy eating habits and good nutrition and at least one of the authorized physical fitness activities.
 
Competitive Preference Priority #1: Competitive preference priority will be given to applicants that agree to implement aggregate BMI (body mass index) data collection, and use it as part of a comprehensive assessment of health and fitness for the purposes of monitoring the weight status of their student population across time.

Competitive Preference Priority #2: Competitive preference priority will be given to applicants who include an agreement that details the participation of required partners.

We believe that several PlayCore products and programs, such as the Play On! program, are well-designed and meet the PEP grant requirements when they are linked with the goals and objectives of the proposed program and correlate with the needs identified in the self assessment process.