September 14, 2004
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Stacy Allsbrook, Las Vegas Centennial, 229-4733 or sallsbrook@lasvegasnevada.gov
Erica D. Johnson, R&R Partners, 318-4269 or ejohnson@rrpartners.com

Las Vegas Centennial to award $200,000 in grants to fund local educational projects
-Deadline to apply, October 15, 2004-

Las Vegas, Nev. -- The Las Vegas Centennial committee will award $200,000 in grants to local educators and education associations who wish to host their own Centennial event or project for students as Las Vegas celebrates its 100th birthday throughout 2005. The deadline to apply for the grants is October 15, 2004.

The grants, which will be awarded as $750 individual grants, will fund projects that use education to commemorate the Centennial or Las Vegas' history in a special way. All subsets of the education community, including individual educators, public, charter, private and home schools and institutions of higher education are eligible. Museums, libraries and other informal educators who seek to blend a study of Las Vegas history with their education mission are also encouraged to apply.

"Our goal is that every educational entity in the Las Vegas Valley will have some kind of Centennial experience next year," said Sheila Moulton, member of the Clark County Board of School Trustees who also chairs the Centennial committee that oversees the educational grants.

The grants will be used to fund a wide variety of projects that incorporate all curriculums, including the arts, language, reading, math and science, and span a diverse array of genres, such as music, literature and the performing arts. Examples of potential projects range from planning a class field trip or outing to a historical site to producing an original play or music score commemorating Las Vegas history.

The Centennial committee will entertain grant requests exceeding $750 when potential exists for collaboration between a number of organizations or communities.

Las Vegas was founded in 1905 when 110 acres was purchased in a land auction near the first railroad. Moulton said she hopes Clark County students will learn about our city's unique origin and spread their knowledge to others, teaching their parents, friends and neighbors about the people and events that helped shape Las Vegas' legacy.

"It is important that our children are proud of their community," Moulton said. "What better place to start than at a 100th birthday party?"

The education grants mark the second round of grants made available through the Centennial committee, which in August awarded more than $300,000 to local nonprofit organizations to fund their own Centennial event throughout 2005. Through that grant program, 58 non-profit groups were awarded grants that ranged from $500 to $10,000, adding dozens of new initiatives to the Centennial's already packed roster of events.

The Las Vegas Centennial will run throughout 2005 with hundreds of events and an official observance on the city's 100th birthday, May 15, 2005. Organizations that host their own programs will join other signature events scheduled throughout the Centennial year, including the rebirth of Las Vegas' historical Helldorado Days Rodeo, the World's Largest Birthday Cake and a Centennial Time Capsule.

For more information on the Centennial celebration or to download a grant application, visit www.lasvegas2005.org or call 229-2005.

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