EPIC! Elevating Practice In Community - Mini-Grants for STEM Teachers & Schools
Dear amazing teachers!
This spring we are kicking off something very new - and couldn't think of a better week than Teacher Appreciation Week! We know you are the ones with the expertise and the great ideas, and we want to help you nurture your creativity while also creating opportunities for making new connections within your community.
Purpose aligned with mission: Since 2011 STEMteachersNYC has invited teachers to not only share their teaching challenges in a safe space and community that believes in growth and learning in community, but to share their expertise in an environment that welcomes, recognizes and elevates that hard-won knowhow. With our new EPIC (Elevating Practice In Community) mini grants for NYC and NJ public school teachers, teams and schools, we hope to support you furthering what you already know works for your students. We learn from each other and we learn together. We are here to recognize your professional goals, help you continue learning, and help you share your learning with the community.
EPIC Mini-grants available in 2025:
- Teacher2Teacher $1000 to a teacher (up to five awards)
Teacher2School $5000 to a team of 2+ teachers (up to three awards)
Teacher2Community $10,000 to a teacher or team and an existing project (up to one award in 2025)
STEMteachersNYC invites applications from individual teachers, teacher teams, schools and administrators interested in developing existing work and committed to bringing the products of the project to colleagues at their home school, neighborhood, and the wider STEMteachersNYC community. We are encouraging collaboration projects on innovative, interdisciplinary, and community-expanding STEM projects to enrich STEM teacher community professional learning experiences within STEMteachersNYC and across the city. We invite proposals that creatively integrate one or more of the 2025-2026 EPIC project priorities, fostering innovative and impactful co-teaching, PLC, and collaborative teacher learning experiences. Proposals that blend multiple priorities—such as interdisciplinary, community-expanding learning initiatives or teacher-led collaborations that enhance hands-on, cross-disciplinary and peer-to-peer teacher professional learning—are especially encouraged.
2025-2026 EPIC STEM is encouraging the following priorities that nurture innovative STEM teacher learning experiences:
SHARE your expertise: Expand the reach of your own teaching to colleagues and community.
ESTABLISH OR EXPAND COMMUNITIES of teacher learning local to you. Create and/or enhance community learning opportunities with teacher colleagues to increase external community awareness of research and educational activities.
COLLABORATE! Through inter- and intra-grade planning, support intervisitation between classrooms and schools, and other interdisciplinary interactions.
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DETAILSTeacher2Teacher EPIC STEM
$1000 to a teacher (up to five awards in 2025)
Sharing Your Teaching with a New Team
Awarded to an individual teacher looking to learn more and share their expertise with a small team of colleagues. Do you have a strategy, lesson or unit that excites you - that you know works for your students and that you absolutely must share? Do you need time and funds to help you share with a colleague, with your grade, or school? This grant is meant to move forward a goal of learning from and giving to a small team of colleagues. Expectations of eligible T2T EPIC STEM project proposals:
Expectations
Building on existing teaching or project materials you have already used in your classroom.
Expand through small PLC, co-teaching, working group, and/or mini workshops to your school colleagues.
Turn your work into a workshop and bring it to the community!
Teacher2School EPIC STEM
$5000 to a team of 2+ teachers (up to three awards in 2025)
Sharing Your Team’s Work with a New Community
Awarded to a team of teachers looking to synthesize their work and support new and existing teams. Have you and a colleague or team been collaborating on something together but need a boost to reinforce and share what you are doing with another grade, school, or district? Do you feel strongly about the impact the work has had on your students and want to share it with other schools or at a conference? Expectations of eligible T2s EPIC STEM project proposals:
Existing materials that were developed as a small team.
Existing collaborative strategy, that may include co-planning, co-teaching, intervisitation, or other strategies.
Goals of:
Learning from a team and giving back to a new team.
Strengthening PLC work at your school around a specific program, and/or turning your school into a community learning center for STEM teachers in your neighborhood.
Trialing new practices around intervisitation, co-planning, and co-teaching in order to make suggestions for building collaboration at your school
Sharing actionable advice and support for others in creating strong teams
Teacher2Community EPIC STEM
$10,000 to a teacher or team and an existing project (up to one award).
Taking Your Team and Program to the Next Level or New Context
Awarded to an existing project (individual or small team) looking to bring their unit, curriculum, or program to a new context. Have you spent the last few years already building a program that you would like to take to a wider audience? Have you shared your work in NYC but would like to reach out to STEM teachers in another state or country? The Teacher2Community EPIC grant may be a good fit.
OPTIONAL ADDITION $2000 School EPIC Extension for T2T or T2S
For Schools Adding Support to Individuals or Teams
Teachers applying independently may invite their schools to sign on for additional funding and support! Additional fund may be used for:
Cross-grade or cross-curricular integration
Co-teaching and/or co-planning time over the year
School to school intervisitation and PLC support or mini workshops
Additional teacher or teacher team travel
Other ideas!
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ADDITIONAL FAQS
> Applications for the first round are accepted through June 1, 2025. Applications received after June 1, may not be reviewed until a future round of EPIC is announced.
> Awardees will be announced by July 1st, 2025.
> Submissions that reach the pre-selection round (late May) may be contacted for additional information, such as project timeline, project references, and team member contact information.
> Open to current public school STEM teachers and teams in NYC and NJ of any grade level or subject.
> Mentor and technical support is available for planning, implementation, and outcomes reporting and sharing to the community.
Eligible EPIC STEM projects include but are not limited to: a) the purchase of materials to help a group of teachers, b) conducting research and/or to travel to study with and from other teachers, c) funds to support the formation of PLC relationships with community STEM organizations, and d) funds to cover substitute per diem costs for piloting these projects.
Please send all questions to yadana@stemteachersnyc.org
We are excited to see what you are working on, and look forward to supporting you in new and exciting ways!
Best,
STEMteachersNYC Team.