Mrinal Joshi receives $5,500 in grants for Journey Math Team

MADISON – For the 2025-2026 school year, math teacher Mrinal Joshi at Journey Middle School has successfully received approximately $5,500 in grant funds to benefit the Journey Math Team.

Resources for Joshi’s grants are the National Defense Industrial Association or NDIA, Tennessee Chapter, $2,500; National Space Club, $2,000; and Optimist Club of Huntsville, STEM Grant, $1,000.

Joshi teaches sixthgrade accelerated math, along with math team class for grades 6-8. She coaches students in Journey Math Team. She holds the National Certificate for STEM Teaching. National Space Club recently honored Joshi with the “National Educator of the Year Award.”

About 70 students in grades 6-8 participate in Math Team. Joshi will use the grant money to cover students’ costs for math competitions.

“MathCounts costs $40 per child. All other competitions cost $10 to $15 per child . . . $120 per family just for competition costs, which would add up to $8,400 for the team,” Joshi said.

These amounts do not include transportation that student families provide. Journey Math Team enters these competitions: Muscle Shoals, Vestavia Hills, Liberty Park, Hoover, Pizitz Middle School, Grissom High School, MathCounts, AMC8, Math-A-Palooza and James Clemens High School.

“It takes me about two to three hours to write each grant. There are several questions that I have to answer such as program description and goals; data and need (student demographics, outcomes); budget; and justification,” Joshi said.

“Most grants ask about the same questions as to how I will use the money, how it benefits my students, description of the grant request, estimated cost, explanation for the need of the grant and any additional information required for evaluation of the grant,” she said.

Most grant organizations need to understand a clear purpose for the request. The resource group wants to feel confident that its funds are handled responsibly:

• What problem or need exists that a grant can answer? Who (which group of people) will benefit from the grant?

• Why are the funds necessary? What expenses exist to warrant a grant? The grant request should align with the organization’s mission.

• Does my project match their stated goals (education, equity, innovation, community impact, STEM and other purposes)? Can the resource organization clearly see why they should fund Journey Math Team instead of another group?

• Funding companies care about results. What will change because of this grant? How many people will benefit? Is the impact measurable (participation, access, achievement, opportunity)?

“I’m pretty sure that my credibility as a math team teacher makes a difference in grants, too,” Joshi said. “Organizations consider my role as a math team coach and experience, my math team’s track record, and whether I seem organized and trustworthy.”

“In short, organizations go by the following rule: Does this request fit our mission, does it matter, and can we trust this person to use the money well?”

Joshi always discusses the needs with her math team — What barriers exist without the grant (for example, competition fees, travel costs, materials or equity of access)? Why is current funding insufficient? Who is affected (number of students, demographics)?

Several students commented on the need for grants:

• Alex Ranguelov — “I’m grateful for all the grants; now, all the competitions are free. But I’m more grateful for all the things Mrs. Joshi has taught us.”

• Denny Vu — “I appreciate Mrs. Joshi for winning all the grants for us, and we won’t have to pay for competitions. I’m even more grateful to have her as my teacher.”

• Ben Dannelley — “The grants that Mrs. Joshi gets help us because we don’t have to pay for the competitions and for the resources to be ready.”

• Jonathan Lam “When Mrs. Joshi applies for grants, she has money to use to pay for the competitions.”

• Jack Silvia — “Mrs. Joshi gets grants that help us go to math competitions for free.”

• Julie Savage, a student’s mother — “I’m so grateful to Ms. Joshi for seeking out grants to support her Math Team kids. These grants help offset the costs of entering each tournament and team shirts, which all really adds up. I love that this grant support from our community ensures that all kids that want to work hard with Ms. Joshi have the option to do so!”