Have you ever used a heart rate monitor during your Normal West PE class? Or been stopped for an interview by a journalism student?

Have you used a children’s books for an assignment in your English class? Or done an extensive lab or experiment in your science class?

If you have answered yes to any of these questions, you have probably benefited from a Bloomington-Normal organization known as Beyond the Books.

According to the website, the Beyond the Books Educational Foundation is a not-for-profit organization that works to give funds to both District 87 and Unit 5 schools. 

Each winter, educators in both District 87 and Unit 5 are encouraged to submit written grant applications.

On the application, they are asked to go into depth about the project plans, including methods of implementation and estimation of cost. Most importantly, though, they design the grant to show how it will impact their students. 

The Beyond the Books Educational Foundation Board of Directors, made up of prominent members of the Bloomington-Normal Community with a vested interest in education, conducts a blind review of the applications, awarding the selected winners according to an established criteria. The funds for the grants are allocated for the following school year.

Since 1992, Beyond the Books has worked to give away 1,046 grants with three different types offered. These include: mini grants, offering up to $800; standard grants, offering up to $5,000; or the Beyond the Box grant that offers up to $10,000.

The Board of Directors has seen a variety of requests through these grants, noting that the things that teachers ask for has evolved over the years.

“Our grants tend to [evolve]…when something new in educational research comes along, and everybody does studies and discovers that there are certain things…that are inhibiting learning and things, then that trickles down,” David Anderson, current president of the foundation, noted.

In the end, all of the allotted grants help to fund learning in local schools and to better the educational opportunities for the students of the Bloomington-Normal area.

“I think it’s a neat variety of things that can get funded through these grants, and it’s been really interesting to see what does get funded each year,” current Beyond the Books board member Erin Easter added.

The connection that Normal West has with the Beyond the Books Organization is showcased through the highly competitive staff, who have a longstanding habit of often being the most-awarded school in the area.

“I think it’s just a proud tradition of Normal West to have the most [awarded grants.] Your teaching staff and your teachers are a little competitive here,” Current Normal West principal Dr. Angie Codron stated. 

In fact, this school year, you are seeing funds from winning mini and standard grants from West teachers, such as Dr. John Bierbaum, Mrs. Remy Garard, Mrs. Katie Bovenkerk, Mr. Ryan Budzinski, Mrs. Natalie Spath, Mrs. Abby Primo, Mrs. Amanda Long,  Dr. Val Walker, Mr. Joel Swanson, Mr. Dave Weber,  among others.

But this year, Normal West didn’t just settle for the mini and standard grants.

This year, a team of administrators and teachers, including Mrs. Becky Frangella, Mr. Dave Weber, Mrs. Jackson Suddarth, Mrs. Kailey Peterson, Mr. David Lehr, Mr. John Mackinson, as well as their students were awarded the 2024 Beyond the Box Grant, which is only awarded to one winning application.

This is not West’s first time winning the big grant.

In fact, three of West’s departments have won the Beyond the Box grant in the past. The science department won the grant a few years ago, and the PE department, under the guidance of teacher, Chad Aubin, achieved the Beyond the Box grant in 2023-2024, allowing Aubin to buy a whole class of 50 heart-rate watches. 

“[They] have been awesome for the PE department. Nearly every PE class uses them once a week whenever they are in the cardio room, so I would say the vast majority of Normal West students get to use the watches,” PE teacher Chad Aubin explained.

It’s no surprise to Normal West Principal, Dr. Angie Codron, who has worked at Normal West for 19 years, that West has won another Beyond the Box grant.

“You look at what we’re doing and in our mission and building relationships, and then to have Beyond the Box be able to support that is why I think [we deserve it]…We don’t just think about ourselves, [but we think about] others and how we can support students better, and I think that comes out in our grant writing,”  Codron explained.

The title of the newest Beyond the Box grant is “Designing a Space for All.” The $10,000 is being used in a collaborative process with the goal of improving the spaces that West students use frequently.

“I think the intent of receiving the grant was to improve and modernize student spaces to make them more collaborative within our school for what learning looks like now,” Codron said.

“We need a space for students to use, and I think this grant is important because it makes a space that actually works for the blended classrooms. It’s cool for my classes. They get to make something that affects the building for who knows how long,”  Normal West Tech teacher, David Lehr, stated.

“Designing a Space for All” is “one of the most student involved Beyond the Box grants that [Dr. Codron has] seen” because each teacher involved has assigned their students to work on an aspect of the planning or building process. 

STEM Cohort teacher, Mr. Dave Weber, took the lead on the winning grant-writing process.

“I, along with Mrs. [Jackson] Suddarth, came up with the idea of having different student groups design and construct an improved balcony area.  I wrote the grant and worked with Mrs. Suddarth, Mr. Lehr & Mrs. Peterson to refine it before submission,” Weber explained. 

As soon as the grant was written, the team of Weber, Suddarth, Mackinson, Lehr, and various students got to work with putting their vision to life.

Students in Weber’s STEM Capstone class “have been in charge of getting the project organized and up and running,” Weber added. 

They did research into the building’s fire codes as well as the American Disabilities Act requirements.

In addition, they interviewed students and fellow collaborators to establish criteria for the design of the space. 

Suddarth challenged her Interior Design I students to work in teams, creating a unique design “after learning about design requirements in class,” she explained. 

They sent their designs to Weber’s class for review and consideration.

Mr. John Mackinson’s metalworking and advanced metalworking classes, alongside  Lehr’s woodworking classes, will build a lot of the physical pieces that will be installed in the atrium and balcony spaces. 

“[The project is] really exciting. The stem and the interior design classes kind of came up with the overall idea,” Weber shared.

Students and staff alike are collaborating to bring this vision to life as seamlessly as possible.

“I enjoy the collaboration with the other teachers involved with the project. Each teacher involved provides experience and their expertise in the areas that will make everything a success in the end,” John Mackinson, Normal West tech teacher, added. 

Suddarth, a FACS teacher at West, has thoroughly enjoyed working with this team to achieve their common goal.

“I have seen my peers in a new light, and I have seen some amazing work coming from our students. I’m very excited to see how the project all comes together in the end and leaves a lasting impact on West!” she added. 

If you’re a student at Normal West, you can get involved in the project by helping to paint a mosaic tile on Thursday, Feb. 6 during the half day activities. These mosaic tiles will be used on the balcony pillars as part of the new design.

The finished atrium spaces are set to complete by May 1, 2025.

The current Beyond the Books grant application is open through March 3, 2025 until 11:59 p.m.

The winning grants for this cycle will be announced later this school year, and funds will be allocated for next school year.

To apply, application must be anonymous to maintain a fair and just awarding system. There are videos on the website that walk teachers through the application process and criteria.

Current board members encourage any and all educators to apply to experience the “qualitative benefit” of grant money put towards classrooms.

“[The grants provide] a variety of experiences. It’s not just field trips. It’s not just academics. It’s covering all different interests and different fields and introducing experiences,” current board member, Teresa Carroll added.

Not only does the committee encourage grant applications, but they are always searching for new donors of all monetary levels, as well. 

“There’s still over $60,000 worth of grants, 35 to 40 grants each year that we’d like to fund that we just don’t have the resources for.  So, we continue to try to raise more money, get more small donors, and get more businesses and other people to donate,” Anderson, president of the foundation, shared. 

Beyond the Books does have proud traditions and relationships with notable donors such as Jack and Ann Ingold and top donor with $20,000 over the past five years, Rivian Automotive.

To help this cause in the Bloomington-Normal area, apply or donate for grants at https://beyondthebooksbn.com.