Teacher grants

We offer grants of up to $500 for K – 12 teachers of Somerville students for a project to improve or enrich mathematics instruction in the classroom or in an after-school program.  The teacher should be teaching in a school located in Somerville.  The postmark application deadline for this year’s grant is 7 January 2022. Teachers can apply as a team for one grant. Please make sure to include the information on the first page about each teacher.

How to apply

The first page of your application should include:

  • Your name
  • Home address
  • Phone number
  • School e-mail address
  • Home e-mail address
  • Current teaching position
  • The name, address and phone number of your school
  • The name of your principal
  • Your signature and date

The second page of your application should include:

  • A description of your project
  • A list of your goals
  • Your time-line
  • Your detailed budget listing what you plan to purchase and vendors/stores that you will use to purchase the items listed. Please include shipping and handling.
Please submit your completed application by January 7, 2022:

The Somerville Mathematics Fund
c/o Erica Voolich
244 Summer Street
Somerville MA 02143
(617) 666-0666
mathfund@gmail.com


“ I would like to say how pleased I was to receive The Somerville Mathematics Fund Teacher Grant. …thank you for the opportunity to expand my math resources…. It helped my students still struggling in math. It is great to have such a wonderful group of people willing to inspire and support teachers to help encourage students to succeed in math.”

“ The children’s interest and enthusiasm was much greater than I expected. Most of the bags came with several activities. In a cover letter sent home to the parents I requested that at least 1 activity be done. The important part of the project was to have the parent and child read, work on a math concept and have fun together. Almost always all the activities were done…parents asked to keep the bag another night. …. Children often asked if they could take their “favorite” bag home again. … It was fun for me to see so much interest generated by this new material. … This was a great opportunity for me to order materials … would not be able to afford on my own…”

“ This has been a wonderful opportunity for us and was a great way for me to interact with classroom teachers about their specific curriculum. Librarians tend to be stronger in the humanities so this really pushed me into being more aware of math curriculum needs.”

“ Using Geometric Transformations to Create Patterns greatly benefited students of all talent ranges… The project incorporated a predetermined geometry curriculum into a meaningful project. Each student was able to express their creativity and display their ambition to learn and work hard.”

“ Overall the project was an exciting, dynamic, and thought-provoking assignment. … As a teacher I benefited from being forced to be creative and thorough in my class preparations. Students naturally follow this lead to produce amazingly colorful and intellectual artwork.”

“ I was strongly encouraged during my first year of teaching … to have a grant at my disposal for developing geometry skills through art and technical drawing. The students were highly motivated and excited about the project.”

“ Thank you for the 25 copies of Study Works Middle School Deluxe Math Program that you donated to our school. I can’t begin to tell you how excited the students and I were when we opened those three large cartons….”

“ The Somerville Mathematics Dollars for Scholars Fund has truly enriched my classroom.”

“ This grant exceeded my expectations. …
Many parents, throughout the years, have confided in me that they cannot help their child because of their limited math ability. I thought the video portion of the grant would be an answer to this problem. … Instead of pushing the parent into the background, a few parents commented on how they are learning right along with their child. This was a very gratifying and humbling experience for me as I was deeply touched that these parents were not only trying to help their child, but were struggling to better themselves. What terrific role models they are for their children.!”