Quick Note

To save you time and effort, you are encouraged to contact the director of the Vision Fund ahead of time with your grant ideas for a preliminary assessment of the proposal and applicable advice. This is not required, however.

Any teacher in the Batesville Community School Corporation, Oldenburg Academy, or St. Louis School is eligible to apply for funds.

The current application deadline is September 10, 2025. Grants must be submitted via the online application form before the deadline. Awards will be announced via e-mail within three weeks of the application deadline.

Funds may be requested for projects that directly and positively affect the teaching skills of the applicant, the environment of the classroom, the increase of student learning, and/or the overall improvement in the quality of classroom education in the school. The applicant must show how the project will accomplish one or more of these objectives.

Funds may not be requested for the following uses: things that are routinely funded by the school or school corporation, (such as professional development funds, or some Gifted/Talented, or At-Risk funds), personal graduate degree programs for teachers, curriculum updates for state-mandated core subjects, projects which have already taken place, some projects which have been repeatedly funded in the past by VISION, costly technology projects that have limited longevity, or projects which do not have the support of the school administration.

If your project is Arts related, the VISION fund may suggest a cash match from your school's Batesville Area Arts Council (BAAC)-AIE fund for arts-in-education related projects. Please indicate on your grant budget if you have applied for or will be applying for matching funds from the BAAC or Batesville Community Education Foundation (BCEF).

Vision does not fund items such as refreshments, food, clothing, awards, gifts, rewards, some types of registration fees or excessive travel expenses. Also, if a teacher leaves the school after receiving a Vision grant, all Vision-funded projects must remain at the school. Permission must be given by the VISION Board of Directors to transfer projects to another school with the teacher.

Requests that are visionary, innovative, creative, have the possibility to affect many students and/or teachers, act as seeds for future growth and expansion, are interdisciplinary in nature, incorporate hands-on learning experiences, have low budgets or have matching funds and support from other sources and are well managed will be given greater consideration.

Funds requested may not exceed $2,000, except for exceptional projects that receive prior approval from the director. All grant funds awarded must be used by the end of the school year in which they are given.

You will be asked to address the following items on the request form:

A. A short title that succinctly describes your project. This does not have to be creative. A short title that describes what you are asking for would be the best.
B. Name, school, grade level, and subject taught for each teacher applying. Please provide a phone number and e-mail address for one designated contact person.
C. The total amount of funds you are requesting and how many students will be involved in the project. If your project will last for more than one year, you may estimate the number of future students who will benefit from the project.
D. A short description of your project.
E. A brief explanation of how the project meets the objectives listed above.
F. A simple timeline showing when the project will take place from beginning to end.
G. A simple estimated budget for the project. Make sure your budget is realistic and adequately shows where funds will be used. Be sure to list the total cost and all matching funds. All funds dispersed will need to be documented at the end of the project.
H. A statement stating that the school principal knows about and supports the project, and that he or she will support the project if the project continues after the current year.

Make sure you receive a verification email back to show that the grant was received.

Teachers and schools who receive grants must credit the Vision Fund for funding support on all printed materials related to the project, such as programs, posters, publicity, newsletter and newspaper articles.

Documentation for your project must be submitted electronically to hillenbrandvisionfund@gmail.com at the completion of the project, or by June 1st of the school year in which it occurred, and should include:

• Short paragraph describing the project and why it was or was not a success.

• One or more photographs of the project as it was being accomplished (if applicable), and/or a copy of, (or photograph of) the final product (if applicable). All photos must be electronic.

• Final budget for the project (You do not have to include copies of receipts/ invoices you have previously submitted.)

• An electronic thank you note addressed to Joan and John Hillenbrand (but sent to hillenbrandvisionfund@gmail.com), expressing gratitude for their generosity.