Beyond the Books Educational Foundation

05/04/2026

Introducing our 2026-27 Grant Award Winners! Congratulations to all winners and thank you to all who applied.

Transcript w/ correct name spellings here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uSf-S4vL4B5aW7hFjNYc8EzKsCnQ8b4x8tpnYzeP3Fo/edit?usp=sharing

05/01/2026

Grant Winners Announcement Coming Monday

Beyond the Books will be announcing its annual grant winners on Monday, May 4, at 3:00pm via a video on this page. Please watch for the it!

A list of the winning grants will also be posted later on our website at www.beyondthebooksbn.com, under the Awards tab. Stay tuned!

The mission of Beyond the Books Educational Foundation is to fund innovative programs for local students. To learn more or to partner with us, click here.

03/15/2026

Interested in volunteering to work with us?

Beyond the Books is seeking new board members to serve a 3-year term, beginning this September.

From fundraising to grant reviewing to publicity and communications, there are lots of ways you can help!

If interested in learning more, email us at:

[email protected]

Who we are and what we do:

Learn more about the Beyond the Books Educational Foundation, a not-for-profit organization working to improve education in Central Illinois since 1992.

02/19/2026

Working on your BTBEF grant application?

Remember to check the rules and guidelines early and often. An important part of the BTBEF process is maintaining anonymity.

Each year, BTBEF is forced to reject several applications over violations of this requirement:

"Avoid identifying your school, school district, or fellow educators; your application will be returned without review if we cannot guarantee a blind review. BTBEF uses a blind review process to ensure fairness in grant-awarding. The BTBEF does not want to know the name of your school or school district or fellow educators, so be careful not to name your program 'Raider Readers' or 'High 5 for Unit 5.'"

We recommend rereading your final application specifically for this issue before final submission.

For more grant writing tips check out this document:

02/04/2026

Grant Spotlight: 2025-2026 BTBEF grant award winner Annie McWilliams (Stevenson) received $3,600 for her innovative project titled "Eye can communicate!"

From the grant proposal: "The eyetuitive from Inclusive TLC is the world's smallest embedded eye tracker that uses advanced AI-based eye tracking software" that "allows students with physical disabilities to trial a variety of iPad communication applications, as well as access the curriculum throughout the school day."

If you work in D87 or Unit 5, you can apply for a grant from BTBEF to bring your innovative instructional idea to life. Link in the comments.

01/27/2026

Beyond the Books Grant Spotlight:

Nikki Bussan's 5th graders at Bent Elementary learned about "lowrider" culture in a unit that featured study of hydraulics, cultural imagery, and art history. The unit culminated in students designing and painting their own original works of lowrider-influenced art.

A show is in the works for the McLean County Art Center!

The supplies budget isn't always there for unique projects like this--and this is why Beyond the Books exists!

Our grant program is open now--link in comments.

01/15/2026

Attention Unit 5 and District 87 teachers, staff, and administrators!

This is a reminder that our annual grant program is OPEN for applications.

Applying is easy:

Click here to view information for all grant applications for the current year, from eligibility to guidelines to criteria and more.

12/11/2025

BTBEF is proud to get a shout out from District 87. It is easy for District 87 and Unit 5 teachers, staff, or administrators to apply for grants from Beyond the Books. And a grant doesn't have to be high dollar to make a big impact.

If you're interested in learning more about the available Grant, see link in the comments. Grant applications are open now!

12/02/2025

Tell your favorite Unit 5 or District 87 teacher, administrator, or support staffer that it's time to apply for a grant from Beyond the Books!

Applications for the 2025-2026 school year are open from today until Monday, March 2nd, 2026.

Many types of grants available to fit the scope of your project: mini grants of $800 and less, standards grants of $801-$5,000, and one Beyond the Box grant award of $7,500-$10,000.

Need more information on how to get started with your application? Check out the information below detailing the Beyond the Books application process:

Click here to view information for all grant applications for the current year, from eligibility to guidelines to criteria and more.

11/17/2025

As you plan your annual giving, please consider making a gift to Beyond the Books Educational Foundation. We award grants to local educators in District 87 and Unit 5.

In 33 years, we have awarded more than $1.3 million to fund over 1,000 grants to local educators for impactful, innovative projects not otherwise in the budget.

But to continue our mission, we need your help. The purchasing power of our grant winners is now only about 78% of what it was just 5 years ago!

We've made giving to BTBEF easy. You can make your gift online by visiting

The Beyond the Books Educational Foundation would not be what it is today without support from our community. Click here to learn about donations.