COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF FOUNDATION
MAY 2021
NEWSLETTER
ENVIRONMENTS FOR LEARNING The First of Four Indy School Makeovers was Unveiled in Early April
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tudents from Indianapolis’ Southport Middle School were given a big surprise when they entered their revamped media center on April 9. The renovated space was the first of four media center makeovers that the College Football Playoff (CFP) Foundation and the 2022 College Football Playoff Indianapolis Host Committee will unveil in advance of the 2022 CFP National Championship in January. Since the Extra Yard Makeover Program launched in 2016, there have been over 50 makeovers either completed or planned nationwide.
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BUILDING BLOCKS A LEGO wall for creativity and expression was a highlight of the new learning space at Southport Middle School in Indianapolis. Students had the opportunity to experience the new features in the media center, which include a makerspace with a sewing
machine, a button maker, nondrying modeling clay and a LEGO wall. Some of the higher tech additions include Lenovo Android
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Tablets, PlayStation 4 Virtual Reality and MYNT3D Super 3D pens. Additionally, the computer lab was turned into an audio-visual studio. Longtime CFP Foundation education partner Lakeshore Learning continues to contribute to these makeover projects nationwide, offering resources to provide what teachers require to prepare their students for success. Together, the CFP Foundation and 2022 Indy Host Committee are working to make a difference with local schools as part of Indy’s CFP Legacy Project. The project helps provide teachers, classrooms and schools with resources that provide quality learning environments.
Providing teachers, classrooms and schools with quality resources that provide excellent learning environments is one of the many ways we can uplift and empower teachers. BRITTON BANOWSKY CFP FOUNDATION EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
“Our job is to use the popularity of football to benefit teachers,” said Britton Banowsky, executive director of the CFP Foundation. “Providing teachers, classrooms and schools with quality resources that provide excellent learning environments is one of the many ways we can uplift and empower teachers.” The next Indiana schools scheduled for a media center
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HANDS-ON DISCOVERY
New features for Southport Middle School’s makeover include a sewing machine, a button maker and non-drying modeling clay. makeover later this year are Garden City Elementary School in Wayne Township, James and Rosemary Phalen Leadership Academy on the northeast side and Victory College Prep on the southeast side. The CFP Foundation and the
Indianapolis Host Committee representatives will continue to dedicate their partnership to support educators in the state of Indiana, throughout 2021 and for years after the 2022 CFP National Championship is played.
MAKEOVER MAP
Ames
1 3
2
Kansas City
Bay Area
Oklahoma City
1
Planned
1
4
Mississippi
4
1
Atlanta
4 Dallas
Completed
Chicago
Morgantown Indianapolis
1
Phoenix
2
1 Houston
4 New Orleans
3
Tampa
25 South Florida
SUPPORTING TEACHERS NATIONWIDE There have been more than 50 Extra Yard Makeover Projects completed, with four slated for 2021 in Indianapolis. We’re creating new innovative learning spaces for students, giving teachers the tools needed to mold our kids’ future!
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CHAMPIONSHIPS ARE A CATALYST TO COLLABORATE FOR THE GREATER GOOD BY MARK HOWELL
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t was hard to miss March Madness this year. Not only was there great basketball, but we all felt the city come alive with fans and residents, witnessed the world’s largest bracket on every broadcast and heard so many positive mentions of Indiana. What a proud time to be a Hoosier and a resident of the state that was responsible for hosting all 67 of the NCAA Men’s Basketball tournament games, in six venues. The vision, planning, execution and impact achieved by the dedication and hard work of civic partners, government agencies and so many volunteers will long be remembered. From the early days of hosting global sporting events until today, we have proven how our city collaborates for the greater good — a unique quality that continues to define us in the best way possible. March Madness is serving as continued inspiration for the Indianapolis Host Committee as we move forward plans for Indianapolis’ next signature event — the College Football Playoff National Championship game on January 10, 2022, at Lucas Oil Stadium. In just 276 days, Indianapolis will host its first College Football Playoff, welcoming more than 100,000 visitors and generating $150 million in economic impact over the multi-day football celebration. ESPN’s broadcast will attract an anticipated audience of over 20 million, while over 1,000 credentialed media will cover the event from Indianapolis and more than 1,500 volunteers will create an amazing experience for the teams and their fans. Having just celebrated a new Champion, March Madness leaves a lasting impact — from the artists whose poetry, performances, and art graced Indianapolis streets to the third graders who competed in “The Read to the Final Four.” Once again, we are fortunate to have many
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partners who embrace the sustainable good that comes through these mega-events. The Indy Championships Fund corporate partners have provided unwavering support, despite the challenges resulting from the pandemic. The Indianapolis Host Committee, partnered with the CFP Foundation, has committed over $1 million to programs providing rewards, recognition and professional development opportunities to benefit teachers. This week, we unveiled a newly remodeled and equipped middle school media center, the first of four in central Indiana. Each media center will provide a new innovative experience, making a positive impact on students and teachers for years to come. We’ve invested in Teach Indy, which is a partnership among Indianapolis Public Schools, the Indianapolis Mayor’s Office of Education Innovation and The Mind Trust. Teach Indy recruits, develops, rewards and retains more outstanding educators for Indianapolis. We have also partnered with the Indianapolis eLearning Fund and the Mayor’s Office of Education Innovation and other philanthropic contributors to underwrite the Indiana eLearning Lab. This virtual hub gives Indiana educators access to content and best practices for teaching remotely, providing critical resources for navigating remote teaching during COVID and sustainable assistance for many years to come. I am immensely proud to be on Team Indiana, a state that is willing to practice hard, play harder and score — for the good of our community. Congratulations to all involved in the tremendous success of this year’s unique March Madness, and now we look forward as Indianapolis and Indiana are once again poised to seize a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Mark Howell is the Board Chair for the 2022 Indianapolis Host Committee.
YEAR IN REVIEW: A look at the year that was — 2020-21 College Football Playoff Foundation
TEACHER APPRECIATION WEEK — MAY 3 - 7
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MOLDING GREAT COACHES
The CFP Foundation has Invested in Texas Coaches, Who are Also Certified Teachers
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he College Football Playoff (CFP) Foundation and the Texas High School Coaches Association (THSCA) recently partnered to help fund the launch of the ROCK (Rare, Outstanding, Compelled, Knowledgeable) Coaches Mentoring Program, designed for young coaches in Texas to be paired with a seasoned mentor to keep them involved and, in turn, retained in the profession. The first ROCK Mentoring workshop was held at The Star in Frisco, Texas, March 21-22, 2021, and the inaugural event was a huge success. There are 19 mentees in the program’s pilot year, each matched with a mentor. During the event, these paired teams heard from 18 different speakers at the workshop on several topics, including: + THSCA’s History and Purpose
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EXPERIENCE COUNTS Dr. John Thornton from Texas A&M talks to the mentors and mentees about building a solid foundation. + Dealing with Ethical Situations + Cultivating Relationships with Players and Parents + Creating Balance and Boundaries + Bullying, Cyber-Bullying and Hazing
+ Remembering your “WHY”
+ Fostering an Athlete’s Mental Health
+ Building Leadership through Coaching
+ Personal Branding and Social Media Management
+ Personal Philosophy and Growth
+ Critical Incident Management
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+ Alignment in a Program
As the first partner to join this effort, the CFP Foundation is funding the first investment of $15,000 into the ROCK Mentoring Program. The ROCK Mentoring Program is a perfect fit with the CFP Foundation’s mission to support teachers, especially the area of teacher recruitment and retention. Texas is one of only two states in the country where high school coaches must also be certified teachers, and statewide, Texas turns over approximately 17 percent of its coaches annually with 6,000 out of 36,000 Texas
↑ R.O.C.K.
↑ Coaches are helping fellow coaches as part of this THSCA investment.
Nineteen mentees were matched with mentors at the inaugural ROCK Coaches Mentoring Program.
coaches leaving the profession every year. In addition to providing mentorship opportunities, the ROCK Mentor Program will provide tools and support to give participants what they need to be successful in the world of teaching and coaching. The program addresses diversity and inclusion, including school districts in Austin, Dallas, El Paso, Fort Worth, Houston, Lubbock and McAllen. The plan is to expand the number of mentees from 19 in the program’s inaugural year to 54 in 2022, while also adding additional markets such as Waco, Wichita Falls and San Antonio. And, within the next three years, THSCA is planning to grow the program tenfold, but to achieve that goal, more corporate partners and assistance from impassioned supporters will be needed to help underwrite the curriculum. For more information, please visit thsca.com.
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First Educators Conference a Great Success
each Indy, a partnership of Indianapolis Public Schools, The Mind Trust, and the Mayor’s Office of Education Innovation, focuses on recruiting, developing, rewarding, and retaining outstanding educators in Indianapolis. The College Football Playoff (CFP) Foundation and the 2022 Indy Host Committee have invested into Teach Indy as part of the CFP Foundation’s local host city engagement leading into the 2022 national championship game, as well as its long-term impact strategy to recruit and retain diverse teachers into the local workforce. From April 9-11, Teach Indy hosted its first Educators Conference with nearly 200 educators, leaders and community members in attendance across the three days. The conference was built by teachers with a steering
During the second keynote session of Teach Indy’s Educators Conference, members of the MelantED Leaders organization shared their thoughts on how teachers can exercise leadership in their school buildings.
throughout the planning process. The conference featured a virtual hiring event with representatives from 22 Indianapolis schools and I learned about and spoke with 53 job-seeking schools I wouldn’t have otherwise had teachers gotten a chance to. attending. One teacher TEACH INDY ATTENDEE said, “I learned about and spoke committee of local educators with schools I wouldn’t have who offered feedback and input otherwise had gotten a chance to.”
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Since the conference, several participating teachers have received at least one offer from the hiring event. The conference also included programming focused on educator development and community, where attendees engaged in sessions related to eLearning, culturally-competent education, social-emotional learning and high-quality instructional practices. Participants shared great feedback on the power of engaging with local presenting teachers and how well
the conference sessions fit with current needs in education and society.
The great thing is that this conference was built by teachers — FOR teachers. TEACH INDY ATTENDEE
“The great thing is that this conference was built by teachers — FOR teachers,” mentioned another attendee. Throughout the event, teachers were acknowledged for their service and contributions from the 2020-21 academic year and were honored with with Teach Indy Teacher Awards. In total, 20 teachers each received an award of $2,000 award for classroom excellence in the past year and another 16 educators received technology support awards of at least $100 to apply toward the implementation of eLearning. Plus, with the support of the CFP Foundation and Extra Yard for Teachers, 100 teachers each received a $100 DonorsChoose gift card to fund classroom projects of their choice. Overall, more than $51,000 in awards and prizes were given to teachers throughout the conference. To learn more about Teach Indy, visit TeachIndyNow.org. To hear about future events, follow them on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram and sign-up for their e-newsletter.”
MAY 2021 HONOREE
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Kylie Webster-Cazeau
ylie Webster-Cazeau’s approach to teaching “Romeo and Juliet” is to make it real, make it relevant, and give it all she’s got. The teacher-in-residency at Dearborn STEM Academy in Boston didn’t want learning the Shakespeare play to feel daunting or confusing. Instead, she encouraged students to get creative. “What I wanted students to gain from the Romeo and Juliet unit is that acting is something that they can do professionally or as a career,” said Webster-Cazeau, who teaches seventh-grade English Language Arts. “I want students to understand that some spaces or plays may not have been written with people like them in mind, but that they have every right to make a space theirs and to make a play their own.” Like in other lessons, Webster-Cazeau wanted to make sure that the material in this curriculum was meaningful and that her students saw it as interesting and valuable. To do that, she needed to model it and make it exciting. “She’s very, very good at what she does,” said student Rosaphae Bruton. “The way she teaches and bonds with people — she’s a very amazing person.” To Webster-Cazeau, loving her students means thinking about their well-being past the statistics that public school systems often value such as test scores and rankings. “Our students are people — they’re people first before they’re people who enter our classroom community,” she said. “We need to remember their humanity and their agency as young people in this world. And I feel like that’s something that was not really acknowledged during my schooling experience.” Read Kylie Webster-Cazeau’s full story at honored.org.
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HONORING BAY AREA TEACHERS
“Follow Your Bliss” Grant Celebrates Teachers who Go Above and Beyond
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he San Francisco 49ers Foundation have come together with the College Football Playoff (CFP) Foundation, Micron Technology, Inc., and the NFL Foundation to recognize the dedication and hard work of Bay Area teachers. The 49ers Foundation and its award-winning 49ers EDU program created the Dr. Harry Edwards "Follow Your Bliss" grant in 2017, an award for full-time educators across the Bay Area who exemplify a commitment to their students, families and communities to lead the future generation with purpose, passion, dedication and love. This year's application process focused
resulting in more nominations than ever before. The winners will be announced at the 2021 Follow Your Bliss Awards Ceremony, held virtually on Tuesday, June 1 (4:30 — 5:30pm PT). Over this past year, parents across In 2020, the the country became teachers and award expanded to learned firsthand what it took day in honor five full-time, K-12 educators, and day out to not only teach their administrators kids, but keep them engaged and and community motivated to learn. educators. Each of the five honorees JESSE LOVEJOY for the 2021-22 49ERS EDU DIRECTOR academic year on highlighting teachers who have will receive a $5,000 stipend for gone above and beyond in the face in-classroom or digital materials of COVID-19 and distance learning, and other necessary resources,
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as well as mentorship from Dr. Edwards for both the recipients and their fellow educators, plus formal recognition at a virtual 49ers event with family and colleagues. "Over this past year, parents across the country became teachers and learned firsthand what it took day in and day out to not only teach their kids, but keep them engaged and motivated to learn," said Jesse Lovejoy, director of 49ers EDU. It is has never been more important to spread Dr. Edwards' message of leading with purpose, passion, dedication, and love and thanks to the help of Extra Yard for Teachers, Micron and the NFL Foundation, we are able to celebrate five Bay Area educators who do just that."
The application for this year's grants put an emphasis on all that teachers have had to endure throughout the pandemic, and the winners will have done that while adhering to the most important criteria: inspiring youth via passion, connection to community and support both inside and outside of the classroom.
HONORING GREATNESS
Since 2017, 49ers EDU has celebrated Bay Area full-time educators who exemplify a commitment to their students and community.
We are pleased to support teachers in the Bay Area for years beyond our 2019 national championship game, thanks to our partnership with 49ers EDU and programs like Follow Your Bliss. BRITTON BANOWSKY, CFP FOUNDATION EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
"We are pleased to support teachers in the Bay Area for years beyond our 2019 national championship game, thanks to our partnership with 49ers EDU and programs like Follow Your Bliss," said Britton Banowsky, executive director of the CFP Foundation. Over the last half century, Dr. Edwards has been a nationally renowned sociologist, civil rights activist, educator, author, and 49ers team consultant. A graduate of San Jose State University, Edwards served as a Professor Emeritus of sociology at the University of California, Berkeley — his tenure spanning 1970 — 2000.
"It has never been more apparent how important teachers are in shaping future generations," Dr. Edwards said. "I am proud to support an organization, like the 49ers, that values education and lift teachers up for all that they do. This award would not be possible without the leadership of the York family and their commitment to generate the resources necessary to assist the development and advancement of Bay Area youth in
the classroom and beyond." The award's namesake stems from the first step in Dr. Edwards' published Blueprint for Academic Achievement and Success: "Follow Your Bliss — Explore and consider paths that might lead not just to achieving a career interest but to realizing your calling — the educational option and emphasis that for you lies at the confluence of talent, passion, productive potential, and opportunity."
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