OFFICIAL E-NEWSLETTER OF
DECEMBER 7, 2018 | VOL. 2, ISSUE 5
BON APPÉTIT
Eckrich Taste of the Championship is a Unique Event Featuring Some of the Most Talented Chefs in the Bay Area BY JAIME ARON
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he challenge was issued from the start. As soon as it was decided that the nation’s premier college football game was headed to Silicon Valley, the staff planning events tied to it were encouraged to find creative ways to infuse technology into everything. The reason was obvious. The answers weren’t. For instance, how do you turn a showcase for local chefs into an opportunity for building robots, exploring augmented reality and examining the inner-workings of perhaps the ultimate machine — the human body? The solution: Hold the Eckrich Taste of the Championship on Sunday, January 6 at San Jose’s Tech Museum of Innovation. “I think this event will embrace technology better than any other,”
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said Ryan Allen Hall, who as Director of Community Relations for the College Football Playoff Foundation also oversees several events during championship weekend. “We looked at more traditional venues. At first, it didn’t jump off the page that this would
be the best location. But then we thought more about the mission, and what could be better than essentially a three-level classroom that will showcase what our teachers and educators do every day?” The Eckrich Taste of the Championship will be held the
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night before the title game, giving fans in town for the action, as well as local residents, the opportunity to eat and drink fare created by more than 20 of the most talented chefs in the Bay Area. That alone would be worth the price of admission. (A price, by the way, that’s discounted by twothirds for teachers who use the promo code TEACHER2019 and show a valid school ID the night of the event.) But, remember, the cuisine and libations are only part of the fun. The museum itself is an equal part of the attraction because
guests will have the full run of the place. Every interactive element will be available to explore for the roughly 1,000 expected attendees — a small-enough crowd for a bigenough space that it’ll feel like a VIP experience. “The interactive elements will be open so people can truly explore the museum like any other day,” Hall said. “Rather than bring in a lot of fancy décor and cover up what’s there, we’re leaning into what it is — a tech museum for kids, young adults and fully-grown adults.” As the teacher discount indicates, this is another of the many ways the
championship weekend will honor their profession. The event benefits Extra Yard for Teachers, the primary platform of the CFP Foundation. The Taste is held hours after the end of the two-day EYFT Summit that’s part-continuing education, partcelebration, and the night following a morning 5K race. Taste of the Championship has been a core event of the CFP Championship weekend from the start. Modeled after the NFL’s Taste of the Super Bowl, it has evolved into something that better fits the college game.
THE MOUNTAIN WEST CELEBRATES TEACHERS: Student-athletes and coaches around the conference are not shy about saying “thank you” to teachers in their lives.
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After two years in ballrooms, the event was moved to the Tampa Aquarium. Seeking a similar out-ofthe-box setting in Atlanta, another aquarium coincidentally proved to be a great fit because of its location. That’s another benefit of the Tech Museum; it’s located right at the heart of the Championship Campus. (Venue officials are proud to host the event and have been especially accommodating, Hall said. He also noted that the museum played host to a kickoff news conference in April because of how well it underscores the CFP’s embrace of this year’s title game being rooted in Silicon Valley.) Over the years, another tweak to the format involves how chefs are selected. Or, rather, where they’re selected from. Rather than bringing folks from around the country, or even the areas connected to the participating teams, the aim now is almost all locals. Highly-decorated chef Michael Mina — his “Michael Mina” was
named Restaurant of the Year by Esquire in 2011 — is the event’s host chef. Selections from two of his signature restaurants will be among the offerings.
Eckrich burst onto the CFP scene last year with the $1 Million Challenge. Although Kirk Herbstreit — ESPN’s college football analyst and a longtime Eckrich brand spokesman — missed his first two pass attempts At Eckrich, being an active at a $1 million donation member of our community is to EYFT, he nailed it on one of our key integral values, his third try. Eckrich was only obligated to give and we’re proud to continue $25,000 but hiked that supporting the Extra Yard for to $500,000 because Teachers platform through executives for Eckrich our partnership with the and parent company Smithfield Foods believe CFP Foundation.” so strongly in the mission MIKE PARIBELLO of supporting education One of the few out-of-towners and educators. who will be participating is Gerron The sausage maker has built Hurt. He’ll fit right in, though, for on that commitment this year by two reasons. He’s the winner of expanding the $1 Million Challenge MasterChef Season 9 and he’s a high to include weekly events at selected school English teacher. games around the country, with a And, lastly, there’s one more current or former Teacher of the noteworthy wrinkle: Eckrich taking Year from that state involved each over as the title sponsor. time. For the Taste, the company’s brand spokespeople are expected to be part of the crowd. “At Eckrich, being an active member of our community is one of our key integral values, and we’re proud to continue supporting the Extra Yard for Teachers platform through our partnership with the CFP Foundation,” said Mike Paribello, senior director of marketing at Smithfield Foods. “We’re grateful for organizations like the CFP Foundation, whose mission is to empower our next generation through providing resources and access to education that helps foster tomorrow’s leaders.” GOOD EATS: Attendees will enjoy samplings from some of the Bay Area’s most notable restaurants and breweries while celebrating teachers from across the GET TICKETS United States.
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STORYTELLER Vernon Keeve Looks to Share his Philosophy with Teachers BY JAIME ARON
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he world of make-believe can be a magical place. For instance, a young boy named Bruce can see something awful like the murder of his parents and use that as motivation to become a crime fighter named Batman. As an English teacher in innercity Oakland, Vernon Keeve III encourages his students to create their own made-up stories; only, they don’t have to be completely made up. He wants them to take the difficult facts of their lives and turn them into fiction, perhaps twisting something sad into something powerful, as with a superhero origin story.
Keeve has been doing this for years. During the CFP National Championship weekend, he’ll share the concept with peers in hopes that they will find a way to bring it to their classrooms. Keeve is among the Bay Area educators chosen to speak during the Extra Yard for Teachers Summit. EYFT is the vehicle through which the College Football Playoff Foundation fulfills its mission of honoring, showcasing and uplifting educators. Just like the CFP title game is the pinnacle for college football players, the EYFT Summit aspires to be THE destination for teachers. Originally a fourBy allowing them to have the crutch hour event on the Saturday of ‘it’s just fiction,’ students have of National a safe way of talking about things Championship they’re holding in and not wanting weekend, it’s to express.” grown into an VERNON KEEVE III extravaganza that will run from “By allowing them to have the 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and crutch of ‘it’s just fiction,’ students Sunday at the San Jose McEnery have a safe way of talking about Convention Center. things they’re holding in and not Local educators were wanting to express,” Keeve said. encouraged to submit 90-second
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videos and a brief description of the presentation they’d like to make. A casting call before last year’s Summit in Atlanta yielded everything from folks offering best practices (like Keeve will be doing) to entertainers. Keeve works at East Bay Innovation Academy (formerly Community Day School) of the Oakland Unified School District. His classes are mostly 10th and 11th graders, but he’s also taught his fact-as-fiction technique to a four-week program for 8th graders. He believes it can be adapted to any age. The superhero origin story is Keeve’s entryway to the concept. He’s expanded it to show students how thinly veiled fiction can be. “We watched a clip of (“Joy Luck Club” author) Amy Tan talking about all her books being semiautobiographical because she picks actual people and characters and events from her life to write what she’s labeling as fiction,” Keeve said. “We just learned that she wrote about a mother who abandoned two children in China while running from the Japanese army. Alongside that, we learned that Amy’s own mom abandoned two children in China because of an abusive marriage.” Keeve’s application for the EYFT Summit included a video made for Teachers of Oakland, a Facebook group started by Om Chitale. Chitale and others he
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has spotlighted will be part of the presentation during which Keen will perform. It’ll likely last 45 minutes and include a panel discussion. Keeve has overcome difficult circumstances of his own, such as depression, his parents’ divorce, drugs and alcohol. He also has ADD and is dyslexic. He shares all this with his students to engage and inspire them.
By fostering that safe space, I make sure I’m creating an environment that makes even the quietest student feel comfortable to speak up” VERNON KEEVE III
“If they see me being vulnerable with my feelings, then maybe they will, too,” he said. “By fostering that safe space, I make sure I’m creating an environment that makes even the quietest student feel comfortable to speak up.” Keeve will share more of the story, and offer more specific advice for fellow educators, at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 6, at the Extra Yard for Teachers Summit.
DECEMBER 2018 HONOREE
Alyssa Cotton
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ach Dinch entered his junior year at Trinity High School in Washington, Penn. dreading math. He’d once dreamed of being an astronaut, or working for a tech company; but ever since he had struggled in a basic algebra class, math seemed increasingly difficult. Zach’s confidence was at an all-time low when he enrolled in Alyssa Cotton’s AP Calculus AB class. “I thought I didn’t really belong in her class. I was in over my head chasing these subjects,” Zach recalled. Alyssa Cotton, however, was determined that Zach, like all her students, would succeed. Cotton, a 10-year teaching veteran, teaches math and computer science at Trinity and she in known for her tireless dedication to her students. “I always tell my students, if you are willing to work, I will be right there with you,” she says. Cotton spends her own money to purchase computer programs and test prep books for her students, and she posts videos to YouTube of each day’s lessons so students can review thorny subjects on their own. Besides opening up her lunch and prep periods to tutor students, she is in her classroom by 6 a.m. daily and stays to offer one-on-one coaching. Cotton lives and teaches by the mantra she often tells her students: “Hard work beats ability when ability doesn’t work.” For Zach, Cotton’s support helped him exceed his wildest goals in math. Now a freshman at Princeton University studying math, Zach says he feels “a responsibility to pay it forward,” and since arriving on campus, he’s been training to become a counselor to low-income high school students and to handle calls at a local emotional support hotline. As he says, “Hopefully I can be the difference in someone else’s life the way Ms. Cotton was the difference in mine.” Visit honored.org to read Alyssa Cotton’s full story.
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