Events & Announcements

• $141,200 in scholarships was awarded at the 43nd Austin Academic Achievement Awards & RIMEF Scholarship Night! The Rock Island-Milan Education Foundation was proud to recognize 73 Top Ten students and award 92 scholarships to the Class of 2023 in the RIHS Auditorium on May 9. This evening to celebrate our deserving Rocky students was made possible by contributions from individual/business contributors and the generosity of our scholarship benefactors. Thank you to the RIMEF Board of Directors, RIHS teachers, administration, the RIMSD41 School Board, parents/guardians and all those who helped make the night such a tremendous success! Bally's Quad Cities provided great refreshments for the reception held in the new remodeled "Island" area at Rocky. Whitey's, Olde Towne Bakery, and ComedySportz made the Top Ten students awards extra special.
  
  Congratulations students!!!

• Seniors! You could be the recipient of part of the over $100,000 in scholarships the Rock Island-Milan Education Foundation (RIMEF) will award to the Class of 2023! One application is all you need to be considered for any of the RIMEF's 49 named scholarships providing up to 70 individual scholarship opportunities! Last year, the Education Foundation awarded a total of $137,200 in scholarships just to Rocky seniors! The RIMEF 2023 Scholarship Application is available in online form only through our website (see the scholarship tab) or on the RIHS website. Application and related materials are due by March 1, 2023 - 4:30 p.m. Please contact the Education Foundation at rimef@rimsd41.org or 309.581.2154 with questions or for more information.

• A record $158,404.19 in PRIME (Promoting Rock Island Milan Education) Grants were awarded for the 2022-2023 academic year! The RIMEF presented the PRIME Grants at the All-Staff Institute held on August 2 at Centennial Hall, Augustana College. 76 grants were issued - 38 Teacher, 31 Departmental/School and 7 Multi-School grants were awarded to 94 teachers funding a variety of programs and materials throughout the district. See the full list of all grants funded in our upcoming Fall 2022 Newsletter and on this website under the "Grants" tab - "PRIME Grants. " 
  
  Over $1,000,000 in PRIME Grants (originally called Teacher Grants) have been given to the teachers and schools of the RIMSD. In addition to the funds for their programs, each teacher received an award letter and award plaque to hang in their classroom courtesy of Edwards Creative.  The grants are made possible by our donors and assistance from the Doris and Victor Day Foundation, Junior Board of Rock Island, the Rock Island Art Guild (awarding RIAG PRIME Awards), and the Rauch Family I Foundation. Additional funds were generated through Birdies for Charity contributions. Congratulations to all the recipients and THANK YOU for using our PRIME Grant program to provide new and innovative programs and materials to benefit your students!

• A record $137,200 in scholarships was awarded at the 42nd Austin Academic Achievement Awards & RIMEF Scholarship Night! The annual event was held on May 11 in the RIHS Auditorium where 87 Top Ten students were recognized and 77 scholarship awards were presented to the Class of 2022. This event was made possible by the overwhelming support from individual/business contributors and the generosity of our scholarship benefactors. Thank you to the RIMEF Board of Directors, RIHS teachers, administration, the RIMSD41 School Board, and all those who helped make the night such a tremendous success! Bally's Quad Cities provided great refreshments for the reception and dphilms created our great video which was live streamed that night. You can watch the awards ceremony here: 2022 Austin Academic Achievement Awards & RIMEF Scholarships Night

• Seniors! Did you know you could be the recipient of part of the over $100,000 in scholarships the Rock Island-Milan Education Foundation (RIMEF) will award to the Class of 2022? One application is all you need to be considered for any of the RIMEF's 44 named scholarships providing up to 62 individual scholarship opportunities! Last year, the Education Foundation awarded a total of $93,200 in scholarships just to Rocky seniors! The RIMEF 2022 Scholarship Application is available in online form only through our website (see the scholarship tab) or on the RIHS website. Application and related materials are due by March 2, 2022 - 4:30 p.m. Please contact the Education Foundation at rimef@rimsd41.org or 309.581.2154 with questions or for more information.

• $90,214 in PRIME (Promoting Rock Island Milan Education) Grants were awarded by the RIMEF to teachers for the 2021-2022 academic year! The 43 PRIME Grants were announced at the All-Staff Institute on July 29th. 25 Teacher, 14 Departmental/School and 4 Multi-School grants were awarded to 46 teachers funding a variety of programs and materials throughout the district. See the full list of all grants funded in our upcoming Fall 2021 Newsletter and on this website under the "Grants" tab - "PRIME Grants. " Nearly $900,000 in PRIME Grants (originally called Teacher Grants) have been issued to the teachers and schools of the district since the program started. In addition to the funds for their programs, each teacher received an award letter and award plaque to hang in their classroom courtesy of Edwards Creative. Congratulations to all the recipients and thanks for using our PRIME Grants to provide new and innovative programs and materials to your classrooms!

• The 41st Annual RIMEF Austin Academic Achievement Awards and Scholarship Night went virtual again this year with a livestream video presentation. 127 Rock Island High School students received Top Ten honors, Austin Academic Achievement Scholarships, or RIMEF Scholarships. In all, $93,300 in scholarships were awarded to the Class of 2021! Thank you to all the AAAA contributors, our scholarship benefactors, RIHS teachers, and donors for making these awards possible. Special thanks to dphilms for the creation of our 2021 RIMEF AAAA & Scholarships video presentation. You can view all the awards through this link starting at May 13 at 6:30 pm or anytime thereafter:
  
  Congratulations to all our remarkable students and the Class of 2021!

• The RIMEF awarded $10,000 in prizes to the winners at the INCubatoredu - Entrepreneurship Class Final Pitch held last evening in the RIHS Auditorium! The winning teams were:
  • Best Business Model, $5,000 - The Cobblers
  • Best Business Idea, $2,500 - Pooh Pods
  • Best Pitch, $2,500 - Boardable
  Each team may use their prize money to help start their business or as scholarships. Judges for the evening were: Mayor Mike Thoms, Pryce T. Boeye, Andrew Dasso, Doug Hultquist, Ty Lewis, John Nagle, and Monta Ponsetto. The entire Final Pitch can be viewed through this link- please advance to 32:50 for the start of the program: https://boxcast.tv/view/entrepreneurship-pitches-192299.
  
  Congratulations to all teams and to theINCubatoredu program at RIHS!

• The 2021-2022 PRIME Grant Application is now available! The deadline for receipt of application and completed cover sheet is June 11, 2021. All RIMSD41 teachers may apply for one of our 3 awards - up to $1,500 for Teacher Grants, up to $3,000 for Departmental/School Grants, and up to $5,000 for Multi-School Grants to be used during the 2021-2022 school year. Applicants will be notified of status on July 16 and awards will be announced during the Staff Institute on July 29. Find the link to the application on the PRIME Grants page of this website under the "Grants" tab.

• Seniors: The 2021 RIMEF Scholarship Application is now available! The RIMEF has 41 named scholarships providing up to 56 scholarship opportunities. Last year, the Education Foundation awarded a total of $89,800 in scholarships just to Rocky seniors! The application is available in online form only through our website (see the scholarship tab) or on the RIHS website. Application and related materials are due by March 4, 2021 - 4:30 p.m. Please contact the Education Foundation at rimef@rimsd41.org or 309.581.2154 with questions or for more information.

• The RIMEF has just added 5 new scholarships to be awarded to the Class of 2021! Please check the "Our Scholarships" page on this website for descriptions of these new awards benefiting our deserving RIHS seniors. These new scholarships increase our total to benefit Rocky grads to nearly $100,000 in named scholarships and Austin Academic Achievement Awards. The Rock Island-Milan Education Foundation 2021 Scholarship Application will be posted to our website and to the Counseling page of the RIHS website shortly after January 1, 2021.

• $58,438 in PRIME (Promoting Rock Island Milan Education) Grants has been awarded for the 2020-2021 academic year! 27 PRIME Grants have been awarded - 15 Teacher, 8 Departmental/School and 4 Multi-School to 33 teachers funding a variety of programs and materials - many to assist them as they teach their students remotely. See a list of all the grants funded in our upcoming Fall 2020 Newsletter and on this website under the "Grants" tab - "PRIME Grants. " Over $800,000 in PRIME Grants (originally called Teacher Grants) have been issued to the teachers and schools of the district since the program started. In addition to the funds for their programs, each teacher will receive an award letter and an award plaque to hang in their classroom courtesy of Edwards Creative! Congratulations to all the recipients and thanks for using our PRIME Grants to provide new and innovative programs and materials to your classrooms!

• The Rock Island-Milan Education Foundation (RIMEF) Board of Directors has awarded $40,277.66 to fund internet access for Digital Equity in the Rock Island-Milan School District (RIMSD) over a period of 3 years. The RIMEF's funds will provide 26 indoor/outdoor antennas and 3 years of internet service for 28 Cradlepoint cellular routers currently placed throughout Rock Island and Milan. This technology is part of the District’s ROCKfi (Reaching Our Community’s Kids with fidelity) network allowing any RIMSD student to connect through their district-issued Chromebook or personal device. Support of the Digital Equity program is made possible through two $5,000 grants from the Doris and Victor Day Foundation and the Rock Island Community Foundation. Another $2,000 grant was received from the Rauch Family Foundation. The total from these great charitable organizations was added to over $6,000 the RIMEF received from its targeted Birdies for Charity appeal and $28,000 from the RIMEF’s annual distribution.

• The new 2020-2021 PRIME Grant Application is available! The new deadline for receipt of your application is August 28, 2020. All RIMSD41 teachers may apply for one of our 3 awards - up to $1,500 for Teacher Grants, up to $3,000 for Departmental/School Grants, and up to $5,000 for Multi-School Grants. Awards will be announced October 2, 2020 for use during the 2020-2021 school year. See the link on our PRIME Grants page of this website under the "Grants" tab.

• The RIMEF Austin Academic Achievement Awards and  Scholarships were announced via a video presentation on May 14. You can view the presentation and see all of our the winners on YouTube or just below...