OFFICIAL E-NEWSLETTER OF
NOVEMBER 7, 2018 | VOL. 2, ISSUE 4
MEETING OF THE MINDS
This year’s Extra Yard for Teachers Summit promises an even more dynamic experience for educators BY JAIME ARON
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ay back in the early days of the College Football Playoff (CFP) National Championship, organizers set aside a four-hour block for a panel of speakers and entertainers selected specifically for an audience filled with teachers. Okay, okay — “way back” means only four years ago. The point of that phrase is to emphasize how far the teacher enrichment/celebration component of the upcoming CFP title game weekend has come in a short time. Consider the differences when comparing the events held in Dallas in 2015 to what’s planned for the Bay Area in 2019. What used to be four hours on one day will now cover 16 hours over two days. What used to be one block of time will now be broken into a bevy of bite-sized opportunities,
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with multiple offerings every hour. “We’ve really created more of a choose-your-own adventure playbook,” said Sharon Lyle, who has been among the lead organizers of the teacher-focused festivities since its inception. “Now teachers can make the experience more
flexible. It can be whatever each person wants it to be.” Honoring, showcasing and uplifting teachers is core to the mission of the College Football Playoff Foundation and, especially its primary platform, the Extra Yard for Teachers (EYFT) program.
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EYFT hosted the four-hour Teacher Summit in Dallas in 2015. Lyle and crew tweaked the formula each year, with last year’s event in Atlanta slimmed to a two-hour summit, followed by a two-hour lounge. The popularity of the lounge made Lyle’s team realize they were onto something. They also recognized the challenge of asking teachers to fit this event into their final Saturday of winter break, or the first Saturday after returning. The result was the decision to stop making incremental changes. Instead, they would reboot the event for the trip to Silicon Valley. The new-and-improved EYFT Summit will run from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. PT on Saturday and Sunday, (January 5 and 6) the same hours as Playoff Fan Central. It’ll also be in the same building, the San Jose McEnery Convention Center. Summit events will be held in the lower level of the convention center, ensuring privacy. But it won’t be secluded. A dedicated escalator will let teachers (and their guests) skip the entry lines and drop right into Playoff Fan Central. Best of all, though, are the myriad offerings for the choose-your-ownadventure that Lyle mentioned. They include:
+ Workshop spaces featuring
eight offerings per day from a variety of education partners. For instance, someone from TED will work with teachers on how to deliver compelling content in their classrooms, as all TED lecture speakers are known for doing.
+ “Educator’s Alley” will offer demonstrations and advice
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INTERACTIVE FUN: The summit is meant as a hands-on experience, allowing educators to learn not only from partner organizations but from each other. on STEM/STEAM curriculum and much more, such as representatives from Landed, a company that helps teachers buy homes they can afford by providing financial coaching and down payment assistance, and DonorsChoose.org, a longtime CFP Foundation partner that gives teachers the opportunity to seek funding for materials that will enhance their classrooms.
+ There will still be a main
“Discovery Stage,” that will be a smaller, more intimate setting than the many-thousand-seat
venues from previous years. The lineup of speakers is, well, out of this world, since it includes both the first AfricanAmerican to walk in space (Dr. Bernard Harris) and the first female African-American astronaut (Dr. Mae C. Jemison). Dr. Harris is on the board of the National Math and Science Initiative and Dr. Jemison is on the board of the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards. “It’s kind of amazing to have both of them at the same event,” Lyle said.
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While the former astronauts are clearly headliners, there’s no telling who will emerge as the most
“Last year we had a teacher who made a theme song for the summit,” Lyle said. “We’ve had a teacher who was a spoken-word performer. We’ve had It all comes down to making other artists and even teachers feel appreciated and mindfulness coaches. celebrated.” It’s always fun.” SHARON LYLE Any teacher or administrator with a talked-about performer. That’s current school ID can get into the because the event also will feature event. They can bring their families, local Bay Area teachers selected too. through an audition process. Everyone is invited to hang Submissions can be made out in a relaxation space that through Nov. 9. will include chair massages and
chair yoga tips that can be used in the classroom. Chick-fil-A and Dr Pepper will provide snacks, and Dos Equis will host a happy hour. There also will be door prizes and drawings totaling more than $120,000. While most of the goodies are professional-oriented, not all are; fashionable items from Kendra Scott will be up for grabs, too. “It all comes down to making teachers feel appreciated and celebrated,” Lyle said, “and giving them a place they can call home within the context of the CFP National Championship campus.”
SEC COACHES GO THE EXTRA YARD FOR TEACHERS: The SEC joins everyone in college football to say THANK YOU to teachers for all you do in developing kids - the future of our country.
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OFFICIAL E-NEWSLETTER OF
CFP FOUNDATION PARTNERS WITH MOUNTAIN WEST IN SUPPORT OF TEACHERS $150,000 provided to conference activities via Extra Yard for Teachers BY AIMEE CLARK
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he College Football Playoff (CFP) Foundation has partnered with the Mountain West (MW) and its 12 footballplaying institutions through the CFP Foundation’s Extra Yard for Teachers platform to support elementary and secondary school teachers across the conference’s geographic footprint. The CFP Foundation has provided a $150,000 grant to the Mountain West for this support in conjunction with conference activities and those of the member institutions. The respective MW schools (Air Force, Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, Hawai‘i, Nevada, New Mexico, San Diego State, San José State, UNLV, Utah State and Wyoming) were each awarded $10,000 from the overall grant to
Universities, coaching staffs and student-athletes from across the Mountain West have stood up to show their support of teachers.
fund programs that will make a direct positive impact on teachers in and around their communities. The funds will also be used to recognize and reward teachers through
in more than 1,000 schools, engaging more than 25,000 students. Additionally, more than 2,000 teachers will attend conference football games and be recognized on the field for their efforts Thousands of students, teachers this season, while and schools have been affected raising awareness of the importance of across the conference footprint. supporting teachers We wish to recognize and thank nationwide. all of our educators for making a “The Mountain West difference.” has been a terrific BRITTON BANOWSKY partner in making a difference through promotional activities across the Extra Yard for Teachers, and we are conference. thrilled to continue the support,” said In addition, the Mountain West CFP Foundation Executive Director will work with DonorsChoose.org Britton Banowsky. “Thousands of to fund active projects in students, teachers and schools have its system that have been been affected across the conference requested from teachers in the footprint. We wish to recognize and eight states of the conference thank all of our educators for making footprint. DonorsChoose.org is a a difference.” crowdfunding charity that allows “Education is the pathway to teachers to request school supplies opportunity, and we are proud for their classrooms. Teachers to once again partner with the across America use this site to College Football Playoff Foundation create projects requesting resources in providing an additional level their students need, and donors of support for teachers across give to the projects that inspire the Mountain West,” added MW them. The Mountain West will utilize Commissioner Craig Thompson. part of the overall grant monies to “This innovative program directly, fund individual classroom project and positively, impacts the learning requests for up to $1,000. environment for young people, The overall impact of the and it recognizes the critical role Mountain West partnership is teachers play in shaping educational expected to support 2,500 teachers opportunities for their students.”
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FUNDING OF STEAM PROJECTS BEGINS
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he CFP Foundation and Bay Area Host Committee (BAHC) recently announced that funding has begun as part of an overall pledge of up to $500,000 for innovative science, technology, engineering, art and math (STEAM) projects through DonorsChoose.org, a national nonprofit that makes it easy for anyone to help a classroom. The initiative has already funded 152 projects from 152 Bay Area teachers, positively impacting 16,556 students in 117 schools with approximately $100,000 worth of support. More funding is scheduled through the 2019 College Football Playoff National Championship, set for Levi’s® Stadium on January 7, 2019. Project highlights include: + Mrs. Heyne at Piner High School in Santa Rosa will be building a life size model of a whale with her students through her “Build-A-Whale” project. + Ms. Matsumoto at Berkeley High School in Berkeley will be teaching her students about shooting and printing photographs through her project, “Film is Alive.” + Mrs. Alfaro Martinez at Tennyson High School in Hayward will empower her students to build and race hydrogen cars with materials from her project, “Engineers Driving the Future.” + Ms. Donaldson at Sutter Elementary School in Antioch will help her students make and meet their fitness goals through her project, “Fitness Trackers for Special Education Students for Daily Fitness Program.” + Ms. Harris at Oak Grove Middle School in Concord will receive a visit from the Lindsey Wildlife naturalists, who will bring owls to the classroom to teach students about birds of prey through her project, “Wise and Outstanding Owls in the Classroom.”
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NOVEMBER 2018 HONOREE
P
Kevin Ilac
erseverance. It’s Kevin Ilac’s favorite word in the English language. He likes what it means: To learn from mistakes, to absorb pain, to strive forward. Because that’s what he had to do, and as a high school teacher at Pioneer Valley High School in Santa Maria, Calif., that’s what he teaches his students it takes to succeed. Ilac found his calling when he himself was a high schooler tutoring fellow wrestlers after practice. “The feeling that I had, knowing that I helped those kids rise up and achieve something that they thought they couldn’t achieve was super addictive. From that moment on, my goal was to become a teacher.” Ilac teaches government and AVID college prep in addition to coaching wrestling, but for many of his students he becomes a friend, mentor, and father figure. A record number of students nominated Ilac for the Honored award. One of those was Amada Villalobos, who says Ilac believed in her when no one else did. When she couldn’t afford to purchase a $10 novel for class, he paid for it. When he found her walking along the road, arms laden with groceries, he gave her a helping hand. Villalobos is now studying creative writing at New York University and credits Ilac with her remarkable success. “They’re looking to me to be that person in their life to guide them,” Ilac said of his students. “When you can get up in front of them and say, ‘I’ve walked this line. I’ve been in your shoes, and I know what it’s like to go through this process.’ It’s nothing I am doing. I don’t think I’m special in any way. I just connect with kids and make them realize what they have inside of them.” Visit honored.org to read Kevin IIac’s full story.
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