Software Funding Grant Request

Fund Request
Community Projects Committee
Junior Service League of Grand Junction

Name of Organization: Colorado National Monument Association, Inc.
Address: Colorado National Monument, Fruita, CO
Phone: 858-3617 ext. 308 Contact Person: Denise Hight

Tell us about your organization
1. How long has it been in existence?

The Colorado National Monument Association was first incorporated in 1964 as the Colorado — Black Canyon Natural History Association. In 1977 that organization was split and we acquired our current name, Colorado National Monument Association.

2. What is the organizational structure?

The Association consists of two part-time staff members, a seven-person volunteer Board of Directors and about 400 members, mostly from the local community. An Executive Director position is currently vacant.

3. What is your mission statement?

The Colorado National Monument Association is a non-profit organization whose mission is to assist the National Park Service with scientific, educational, historical and interpretive activities at Colorado National Monument. Through operation of the bookstore, membership dues and other fund-raising activities, the Association raises money to publish interpretive materials and to help fund NPS activities and projects in the monument, as well as outreach activities in the nearby communities.

4. What population does the organization serve?

The CNMA serves the local community and visitors to the Colorado National Monument.
The monument has between 250,000 and 300,000 visitors a year, of which an estimated 25 percent are from Grand Valley communities. Among these visitors are a significant number of schoolchildren, for whom the CNMA frequently arranges interpretive hikes and other activities.

5. What are your current funding sources? Do you anticipate a change in funding level and if so, please explain.
Our primary funding source is the bookstore we operate at the Colorado National Monument Visitor Center. Proceeds from the bookstore go to support interpretive programs at the Monument and educational outreach programs in the community. Our other funding sources are membership dues and donations, and a limited number of grants. Although the bookstore remains our primary source of funding, the needs of the National Park Service at the Colorado National Monument exceed the ability of bookstore to raise the needed funds.

Tell us about your project or service funding request

1. Describe your project or service and how much money are you requesting?

The CNMA commissioned and funded the writing of a teacher’s guide to the natural history of the monument, which will be available to all schools in Mesa County. The guide has been written and covers the geology, plants, and animals of the monument. Through our own internal resources and the generosity of a few donors, we have the funds to distribute one copy per elementary and middle school in District 51. However, to make the guide more accessible to local teachers, we would like to distribute it on CD-ROM. Our request to the Junior Service League is for funding to obtain the software and blank CD-ROMs to permit us to do this. Through the Chairman of our Board of Directors, we have the hardware to write CD-ROMs, so it will take only a modest investment of $415 to do the project. The work will be done by staff and volunteers.

In order to put the teacher’s guide on CD-ROM, we need a software product to convert it to a file easily stored and retrieved in the computer. For this, Adobe Acrobat is the industry standard. Acrobat converts a document into Adobe’s Portable Document Format (PDF), which preserves its original appearance but allows it to be stored and retrieved by computer. Adobe distributes the reader part of this software free, and we would include it on the CD-ROM.

In addition to the software to convert the manuscript to computer-compatible format, we need three other things. We need the recordable CD-ROMs, plastic boxes (“jewel cases”) to protect them, and a way to label the CD-ROMs. The CD-ROMs, plastic boxes, and labeling program and supplies are all available at local office supply companies.

We project making 50 copies of the teacher’s manual on CD-ROM with the requested grant money. If additional copies are needed, the Association can fund them out of its own budget, as the incremental cost for additional copies is low once the software has been acquired and the document has been formatted.

Our total budget request for this project is $415.

2. What is Junior Service League (JSL) money being used for, include a budget for your entire project and a schedule for utilization of the money. What percentage of this project is JSL being asked to fund?

The budget for this project is $415, as itemized below.

Adobe Acrobat software…………..$240
Recordable CD-ROMs (50)………. $ 40
“NeatO” Label Kit and 50 labels
for CDs and “jewel cases”.….…....$135

The budget for the teacher’s guide publication project is $20,000. Of this, $8800 has already been paid to the author for her work. $1300 has been paid for illustrations and $9000 has been paid for layout/design and initial printing costs. The remaining is budgeted for printing paper copies.

The Junior Service League portion would be less than 2% of the overall teacher’s guide project, but 100% of the CD-ROM publication.

3. What is the timeline for the completion of this project or service? Is this a project that will be completed within one year or is it a multi-year project or service?
Timing of events and expenditures is as follows:
Purchase of software and related items for CD-ROM
portion of project…………………………………………..Within one week of receipt of grant
Conversion of manuscript into computer-compatible form .Within six weeks of receipt of grant
Distribution of CD-ROMs to local schools……………….Within three months of receipt of grant

4. What population does this specific project serve?

Teachers and students, from 4th grade to 8th grade, of Mesa County schools.

5. Which of the three funding areas designated by JSL are you applying for? (Human Services, Education, Arts and Recreation).

Education

6. Is there additional information you wish to present about your project?

The Colorado National Monument Teacher’s Guide is a 365-page handbook for teachers planning to bring their students on a field trip to the monument. It was written by naturalist and outdoor educator Winston Dines with the input of several District 51 teachers. (Attachment 1, a copy of the Acknowledgements page, lists all those who participated in writing and publishing the guide.) The teacher’s guide conforms to the educational content standards for grades 4-8 for School District 51 in Mesa County. It contains descriptions of the geology, history, plants, and animals to be found at the monument. It also describes interactive projects that the students can participate in, both at the monument and when they return to the classroom. The CNMA originally planned to distribute the book before the start of the 2000-2001 academic year, but after we found some typographical errors, we delayed distribution until a corrected edition was completed. We are now ready to print and distribute the revised edition.

Producing the guide on CD-ROM will ensure that its valuable information is readily accessible to the teachers and students of Mesa County.