California grapes

The long-running 'Innovation in Teaching' campaign run by the California Table Grape Commission is underway again this year, offering 10 mini-grants of up to US$500 each to teachers in California's grape-growing regions.

Active since 1993, the programme has provided over US$75,000 in grants to teachers, reaching over 5,000 students in the Coachella and San Joaquin Valley farm communities.

Available to elementary, junior high and high school teachers, applications can include ideas for classroom, outdoor, field trips and group projects that are completed by the end of the 2009/10 school year.

Last year's grants were handed to a range of projects, including equipment purchasing for a study on plant growth and bee pollination, a solar energy race, museum field trips and an interactive classroom store.