Annual program awards grants to K–12 educators in SELCO communities;
42 grants totaling $39,309 awarded in 2017

Applications are now being accepted for SELCO Community Credit Union’s annual SPARK! Creative Learning Grants, which award as much as $1,000 to K–12 educators across the 26 Oregon counties that SELCO serves. The application process will be open until September 30.

Now in its 25th year, the SPARK! Creative Learning Grant program was created with the belief that a lack of funding should not be an obstacle for educational projects that excite curiosity, deepen understanding, and encourage new ways of seeing. In 2017, the program awarded $39,309 to 42 educators in 32 Oregon schools for initiatives that ranged from building a multi-sensory obstacle course to the purchase of Google Chromebooks to help students practice music.

“Teachers have a unique ability to instill a passion for learning in our children, and SPARK! helps ensure that creative learning experiences, which so often light a fire for students, receive much-need funding,” said Laura Illig, SELCO’s vice president of marketing. “SELCO was created more than 80 years ago by a group of educators, and supporting the educational efforts of the communities we serve remains one of our core missions.”

SPARK! Creative Learning Grants support educators with innovative classroom ideas and a need to purchase materials or other resources to get those projects off the ground. Award recipients have used the funds for an almost unending variety of purposes, including the creation of a school garden and a guitar-building workshop. Visit www.selco.org/spark to view videos spotlighting the program.

For more information about SELCO Community Credit Union’s SPARK! Creative Learning Grants or to apply, visit www.selco.org/spark, email spark@selco.org, or call 541-686-5382.

About SELCO Community Credit Union:
Founded more than 80 years ago by a group of fiscally minded teachers, Eugene-based SELCO Community Credit Union now serves more than 138,000 members as the third-largest Oregon-based credit union. A not-for-profit, federally insured, member-driven financial cooperative with more than $1.6 billion in assets, SELCO is able to provide its member-owners with exceptional rates and low fees on a full range of financial products and services, including banking, mortgages, personal and business loans, investments, and insurance. Membership is open to anyone who lives or works in the 26 Oregon counties SELCO serves. For more information, or to become a member today, stop by one of SELCO’s 15 branches, call 800-445-4483, or visit selco.org.

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