NORWICH – The Chenango Arts Council is gearing up for an afternoon to promote cultural programs in schools across the county with its annual pig roast fundraiser for the Grants for Teachers program.

For more than 10 years, the Grants for Teachers program has given money to area educators to help fund a number of ideas, from student field trips to the purchase of art supplies for the classroom. As long as funding applications fall within the parameters of the program, requests are limited only by the imagination of the teacher, said Chenango Arts Council Executive Director Victoria Kappel.

Inspired by a community-wide survey to find what teachers need for their classroom, The Chenango Arts Council started the Grants for Teachers program in 2003. The program has been a big help for Chenango County teachers of every grade and in every subject ever since.

“What we heard back from that survey is that teachers need an avenue to get small amounts of funding for critical needs in the classroom with minimal amounts of red tape,” Kappel explained.

Only in recent years has the program lost the corporate support that had underwritten grants, she said. Thus began the pig roast fundraiser which this year will be held from 3-6 p.m. on Sunday, June 1, at the residence of David and Mary El Emerson on County Road 4 in Oxford.

While the Grants for Teachers program still receives some monetary support from Community Bank, it’s largely funded by private donations and money raised from the pig roast gala, Kappel said. To date, more than $25,000 has been allocated to teachers over the life of the program, with more than $3,000 allocated earlier this year. Recipients in 2014 included Greene Middle School for help purchasing guitars and strings, Gibson Primary in Norwich for a trip to the Farmers’ Museum, Oxford Primary for its school musical, and Unadilla Valley for the purchase of the “Spotlight on Music” curriculum.