OFFICIAL E-NEWSLETTER OF
MARCH 11, 2019 | VOL. 2, ISSUE 7
DREAM TEAM FOR TEACHERS
The College Football Playoff Foundation and DonorsChoose.org form a perfect partnership that continues to directly impact tens of thousands of teachers across the country BY DAVID LEE
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abo Swinney, Trevor Lawrence and the Clemson Tigers weren’t the only big winners at the College Football Playoff National Championship. The weekend also proved to be quite memorable for Bay Area teachers and their Teacher of the Year counterparts from across the United States, which in turn made the experience a resounding victory for the CFP Foundation’s Extra Yard for Teachers platform. The College Football Playoff (CFP) Foundation launched its Extra Yard for Teachers initiative five years ago and formed a natural partnership with DonorsChoose.org that continues to positively impact thousands of teachers and raise millions of dollars each year.
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Before “crowdfunding” was even a word, DonorChoose.org was founded with a mission to directly impact teachers by providing a platform to have their classroom projects funded by regular people and organizations wanting to help.
“Frontline educators know best what they need to help their students learn,” said Tim Sommer, Partnerships Director for DonorsChoose.org. “We are an avenue to request those resources, and provide a way for people who
INSIDE THIS ISSUE //
↗ BAY AREA SUCCESS PG 3
↗ HELPING TEXAS TEACHERS PG 4
↗ MARCH 2019 HONOREE PG 5
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want to help to give any amount they want. We’re thrilled to be an avenue for the CFP Foundation to help teachers through the Extra Yard for Teachers program.” Just this year, the partnership with the CFP Foundation has already granted $1.95 million to fund 2,383 projects for 2,182 teachers at 1,528 schools. When a project is funded, DonorsChoose.org purchases everything needed and ships it to the classroom. Donors know exactly where their money is going, so there is total transparency and accountability. According to Sommer, at any given time there are between 50,000 to 90,000 live projects on the site.
It’s a cool experience to see what teachers are requesting and to be able to give to those projects.” TIM SOMMER
“It’s a cool experience to see what teachers are requesting and to be able to give to those projects,” Sommer said. When the partnership began with the 2015 College Football Playoff, gift cards were handed out during the national championship game for people to use to fund any project they wished on DonorsChoose. org. The CFP Foundation was able to flash-fund all projects in North Texas that were live at the time on DonorsChoose.org. In the months preceding the 2016 CFP National Championship in Arizona, all of the DonorsChoose.org projects in the entire state were funded.
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CLASSROOM MAKEOVER: The CFP Foundation has helped fund 2,383 total projects for 2,182 teachers in 2018-2019. “It was a great way to know that your investment was going to make a difference in the classroom and in the lives of students,” said Britton Banowsky, Executive Director for the CFP Foundation. The partnership has evolved to a level where the two organizations are now able to focus on specific needs of the host communities for each CFP National Championship, in addition to continually funding and supporting initiatives after the game. For example, this year in the Bay Area, STEAM projects (science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics) were funded, currently totaling more than $320,000 that supported nearly 500 teachers. More funds were diverted to help teachers affected by devastating wildfires just north of the Bay Area in Butte County, California. “It’s an amazing platform with which to work,” said Bakowsky of
the DonorsChoose.org partnership. “Teachers are so excited to learn that their projects have been funded. We’re just so grateful to have the opportunity to do it. DonorsChoose.org is so highly credible. It’s considered one of the gold standards as it relates to educational non-profits. It’s been an amazing partnership.” Through the partnership, expanded initiatives involving various college football conferences and bowl games have augmented the impact for teachers, including several appearances on national TV programs such as ESPN’s “College GameDay” and bowl game broadcasts. “Being able to say that an organization like the CFP Foundation is a supporter of ours is a badge of honor, and something we’re incredibly proud of,” Sommer said.
OFFICIAL E-NEWSLETTER OF
BAY AREA SUCCESS WITH
Q+A
BRITTON BANOWSKY
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he College Football Playoff (CFP) Foundation Executive Director talked about the positive and on-going impact in the California Bay Area surrounding the 2019 CFP National Championship, and gave a peek into New Orleans for next year’s game.
What specific initiatives and goals were accomplished in the Bay Area this year?
BANOWSKY: “In our partnership with the Bay Area Host Committee, we worked closely with the San Francisco 49ers Foundation and 49ers EDU. We decided to focus on STEAM education, and looked for ways to support teachers in their efforts to delivery STEAM learning to their students. We developed a fund with DonorsChoose. org that was earmarked for that purpose. So, the STEAM-related project requests on the site were funded. We deferred to our partners in the area to help identify those projects. It totaled about half a million dollars. It’s been extremely rewarding to see those projects come to life.”
How was the CFP Foundation able to set up ongoing support in the Bay Area even after the College Football Playoff National Championship?
BANOWSKY:“Our investment in the community doesn’t start and stop around the CFP National Championship. We come in early and start designing a strategy that we work through the game and continue it after. So, we’re going to work in the Bay Area for quite a while longer. We’re still working in Atlanta (site of the 2018 national championship game) and also doing some work in Tampa (2017). We’re not just coming in and leaving. We are there for a significant window of time.”
What other activities were new or successful this year?
BANOWSKY: “We had a variety of successful events, including a summit that was attended by about 2,000 teachers in the Bay Area. We are still activating classroom makeovers. We’ve done one in San Francisco Unified
School District. We have a library makeover scheduled for Oakland. We provided three teachers with $25,000 down payments for a home through an organization called Landed. We still have three more to deliver. In the Bay Area, the housing is really not affordable for teachers. For a teacher to live close to where they teach is very difficult. So we try to help where we can.”
What plans are already in action for the 2020 National Championship in the New Orleans area?
BANOWSKY: “We are well on our way to roll out a plan that will mainly focus around teacher recruitment and retention in one district—Orleans Parish School Board. There are about 3,200 teachers in the district, but they turn over almost one-third of them every year. So, delivering good educational outcomes is challenging. We are investing in stabilizing their workforce and opening partnerships with the local universities to drive more teacher talent into the district. “We also have an ambitious goal of being physically present at all 87 schools. It will be an initiative called ‘Lunch and Love.’ A big reason why teachers leave their jobs is because they don’t feel appreciated and supported. So we are going in and saying, ‘You are appreciated.’ We’ve partnered with Chick-fil-A to provide teachers with a catering appreciate lunch, and we will look for other ways to engage as we work over the next year. We want teachers in the New Orleans area to realize that working in the district is a good thing, and they are appreciated. Our goal is to reduce the turnover by at least 10 percent in one year.”
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HELPING TEXAS TEACHERS
CFP Foundation and the Cotton Bowl Foundation Come Together to Support Educators
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ongside the CFP Foundation’s Extra Yard for Teachers platform, the Cotton Bowl Foundation has awarded a total of $200,000 in grants to Teaching Trust and Urban Teachers, both of which are organizations that focus on the development and support for teachers in North Texas. Each foundation donated $100,000, divided equally between the two educational organizations. “The CFP Foundation is proud to partner with the Cotton Bowl Foundation to help support North Texas teachers,” said Britton Banowsky, CFP Foundation Executive Director. “Teachers strive for excellence every day. Development and support for them is paramount around everything we do through the Extra Yard for Teachers platform.” “The Cotton Bowl Foundation strongly believes that we should participate in our communities in
MAKING A DIFFERENCE: Calago Hipps (right) is one of 217 teachers supported in 2018-19 through the efforts of Urban Teachers.
of our community 365 days a year,” said Carl Ice, Cotton Bowl Foundation Chairman. “We’re proud to partner with the CFP Foundation to recognize two tremendous organizations that are making a huge difference here in North Texas and We’re proud to partner with the ultimately transforming CFP Foundation to recognize two lives.” Teaching Trust tremendous organizations that is a Dallas-based are making a huge difference educational leadership here in North Texas and development ultimately transforming lives.” organization, and CARL ICE its $100,000 will go to support its three the spirit of the grand tradition core programs: Aspiring Leaders, of the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Leadership Teams, and Community Classic to help make an impact of Educators. Teaching Trust targets on the children and educators principals and teachers in Title I
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schools across North Texas, where 84 percent of students served are economically disadvantaged. Teaching Trust works to eliminate the opportunity gap for low-income students through a focus on strong school leadership by providing targeted training, coaching, and support for current educators working in the region’s highest need schools. “We are so grateful for the generous support from the Cotton Bowl Foundation and the CFP Foundation, helping Teaching Trust’s efforts to build the leadership capacity of school leaders and educators across North Texas,” said Patrick Haugh, Teaching Trust Chief Executive Officer. “With this gift, more
OFFICIAL E-NEWSLETTER OF
educators will be equipped with the skills and practices needed to close the opportunity gap and transform academic and life outcomes for their students.” The $100,000 grant for the Dallas/Fort Worth site of Urban Teachers will support the organization’s mission of improving educational and life outcomes of children in urban schools by preparing culturally competent, effective career teachers who accelerate student achievement and disrupt systems of racial and socioeconomic inequity. The funds will contribute to the ongoing support of the comprehensive fouryear teacher residency program. Urban Teachers prepares recent college graduates to be effective classroom teachers via a state-of-the-art four-year program that includes a yearlong residency, 1,500 hours of clinical coursework and a Master of Science in Education degree. Urban Teachers educators in Dallas earn certifications in a core content area, special education and English language learning. Throughout the program, teachers receive one-onone coaching and support from veteran educators. “We are honored to partner with the Cotton Bowl Foundation and the CFP Foundation in the critical work of supporting Dallas teachers,” said Peter Shulman, CEO of Urban Teachers. “We know that effective teachers are the most important influence on children’s learning, and it is inspiring to see these great organizations and Dallas community rally around the Urban Teachers program to prepare outstanding career teachers for Dallas schools.”
MARCH 2019 HONOREE
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Jane Olsen
or Jane Olsen, learning is a family affair. For 24 years, Olsen has been teaching first graders at Canyon Elementary School in Hyrum, Utah, and before the school year, Olsen visits the home of each and every one of her students to get to know them and where they come from. “It’s something I royally enjoy, so I can get to know the students before they walk in the classroom,” Olsen says. “Before they walk in, I’ve studied their picture and know their name. I know where they live and have met their dog. I really like being able to correspond with them about those things.” For Olsen’s student Sera Blanke, that home visit changed everything. Sera had been hit by a car while riding her bike a few months earlier, and in the aftermath was struggling I’m just hoping with pain and anxiety. She was I can change racked by migraines, back pain, somebody’s life and insomnia. Her emotions swung and inspire them wildly from anger to joy to sorrow. “Her entire personality changed,” to be better.” Sera’s mother says. “We really JANE OLSEN doubted she would be able to go back to school.” When Olsen came to visit before school, however, Sera was won over by her teacher’s warmth. “I feel like she’s special,” Sera said at the time. “She feels like my friend.” Sera is now thriving in first grade, and her mother attributes it entirely to Olsen’s indefatigable energy and light. For Olsen, that’s what teaching is all about. “That’s why I wanted to teach school,” Olsen says, “just hoping that I could change somebody’s life and inspire them to be better. Recently, I saw this child who was once in my class. He said, ‘You’re still my favorite teacher.’ And he’s in his forties! That makes you feel good, when you touch lives.” Visit honored.org to read Jane Olsen’s full story.
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