The Extra Yard, Vol. 1, Issue 7

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MARCH 2, 2018 | VOL. 1, ISSUE 7

EXTREME CLASSROOM MAKEOVER

The College Football Playoff Foundation and School Specialty impact more than 300 students through Extra Yard Classroom Makeover Project

BY DAVID LEE

T

eachers and students across America are getting a major classroom makeover thanks to the partnership between the College Football Playoff (CFP) Foundation and School Specialty.

As part of the CFP Foundation’s Extra Yard for Teachers platform, the Extra Yard Classroom Makeover Project has provided 15 classrooms with brand-new interactive desks and chairs, smart board technology, various security and safety

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components, supplies and more.

School Specialty, along with its subsidiary, SSI Guardian, provides and installs the new furniture and learning equipment. The average value of a classroom makeover is $25,000, and more than 300 students have already benefited.

The partnership was a natural fit with the Extra Yard for Teachers’ mission of elevating the teaching profession, as School Specialty has been equipping and empowering

schools and teachers for 59 years.

“The mission and objective of the Extra Yard for Teachers initiative is a direct synergy to ours,” says Michael Yorio, President of SSI Guardian. “We wanted to do something that would make an impact. It’s our way of giving back and supporting educators in a unique and meaningful manner.”

Added Britton Banowsky, CFP Foundation Executive Director, “Our partnership with School Specialty has been amazing and creates so much positive energy around our work. The joy in the faces of the students when they

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TRANSFORMATION: The students’ reactions to their new classroom environment are full of awe and excitement.

see their classroom environment transformed is priceless.”

The CFP Foundation conducts the selection process for the winning classroom via live drawings, and

the design of the classroom for a tailored makeover specific to the needs of each class. They provide what Yorio calls “21st century learning components.” “We address the educational environment from the social, emotional, mental and physical perspective,” he says. “By doing that, we are able to improve and upgrade learning facilities to the 21st century.”

The furniture is designed for mobility and can be rearranged on demand.

“The furniture is specifically designed to encourage and facilitate collaboration. They configure in ways that allow collaborative pods to be created on the fly.”

RICH HARNEY the School Specialty team works with the school and teachers on

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MAKEOVER: Michael Yorio meets with Principal Woofolk of M. Agnes Jones Elementary in Atlanta, GA, to present her school with a classroom makeover.

Students can write or draw on the whiteboard-like surface of the desks. State-of-the-art digital smart boards allow for interactive group lessons where students can touch the board to participate in a particular curriculum.

“In a 21st century learning environment, there’s a great emphasis on collaboration,” says Rich Harney, Sr. Vice President of Marketing for School Specialty.

“The furniture is specifically designed to encourage and facilitate collaboration. They configure in ways that allow collaborative pods to be created on the fly. They can be disassembled and then recreated in a different configuration.”

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MARCH HONOREE

QIUHONG ZHANG

Q The lucky teachers are never shy to show their emotion and gratitude. In fact, Yorio’s favorite part is seeing the joy on the faces of the teachers and students.

“It’s true, unsolicited emotion on behalf of the winners,” he says.

“There are literally tears of joy.

That classroom will last for years and have an impact not just on the students today, but on the ones next year as well.”

Harney adds that the joint efforts of School Specialty and the CFP Foundation improve the learning atmospheres of classrooms to help teachers fully realize their passion and ability.

“We’re really pleased to be able to go into a classroom and bring it to the standards of best practices in teaching and education,” he says.

“We look forward to continuing our relationship with the College Football Playoff Foundation so we can deliver those opportunities to more classrooms in the future.”

iuhong Zhang’s teaching career has spanned three countries and more than two decades. A Mandarin teacher at Notre Dame Academy in Green Bay, Wisconsin, Zhang wants her students to know one thing: “I want them to know that the world is so big,” she said. “There are so many beautiful things everywhere.”

Zhang grew up in China, and when she began learning English in high school, she had the revelation that would become her life’s work: “Learning another language made me open my mind to see the world from different views.” She taught for eight years in China before moving with her family to Green Bay. At Notre Dame, Zhang teaches her students Mandarin by exposing them to Chinese culture. “I see myself as a cultural ambassador,” she said. She utilizes music, games, and real-life applications of the language to teach her students.

“You can’t just push a student to succeed; they need to enjoy the process,” she said. “Every student is different, everyone learns in a different way. The challenge is to find out what they like and how to motivate them to keep it interesting.” One of her students, Diego Diaz, says in Zhang’s classes, he has learned that studying foreign languages is more than just memorizing vocabulary and grammar. “It’s really about breaking down barriers between countries,” he said.

Visit www.honored.org to read Qiuhong Zhang’s full story.

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CLASS IS IN SESSION

The 2018 State Teachers of the Year begin their reign

BY JAIME ARON

S

oon after the 2018 College Football Playoff (CFP) National Championship, the competition ratcheted up again.

Contenders from across the country focused on what they need to do to earn their moment in the spotlight at the 2019 CFP title game at Levi’s Stadium.

Recruiting, right? Prepping for spring football practices?

Yes, those, too.

But we’re actually talking about the race for the 2018 National Teacher of the Year (NTOY), the honor overseen by the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO), a proud partner of the College Football Playoff (CFP) Foundation.

As you may recall, the National Teacher of the Year and the other 55 State Teachers of the Year were recognized at halftime of the 2017 national championship game and during the pregame ceremony in 2018. Each cohort is comprised of a teacher from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Department of Defense Education Activity and the U.S. territories. This year’s cohort will also be honored at the final college football game of the upcoming season.

While the NTOY program seeks to crown the best of the best, it’s really about selecting high achievers from each state and lifting them even higher. For all

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CHAMPIONSHIP MOMENT: The 56 State Teachers of the Year were recognized pregame at this year’s national championship game.

56 honorees, their year in the program is part victory lap and part continuing education, an opportunity to improve and expand their skills as educators and to leverage the status that comes with their title.

And now, students, class is in session.

CLASS OF 2018 In 1952, first-grade teacher Geraldine Jones of Hope Public School in Santa Barbara, California, became the first National

Teacher of the Year recipient.

The award was sponsored by McCall’s Magazine, and Jones and her husband were flown to Washington, D.C., where President Truman honored her at a ceremony in the Rose Garden of the White House. While the NTOY program has blossomed since then, the White House ceremony remains.

The Class of 2018 was selected last November. This February, they gathered for an induction meeting that was primarily a chance for everyone to get to know each

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READY, SET, GO: The 2018 State Teachers of the Year begin their journey with a welcome reception.

other and to learn more about the months ahead.

One member of that group will receive further recognition and benefits that come with being named the National Teacher of the Year. Four finalists were named in January, and the selection committee has since met with each of them and begun selecting a winner which will be announced during “Washington Week” in April.

The program kicks into high gear during Washington Week. The educators will attend a variety of workshops: media training, refining communication and storytelling techniques, and immersion into the policy issues surrounding education. Then, they’ll go to Capitol Hill to put it all into use.

Each will meet with lawmakers

from their home state to discuss those policies. Remember, they’re not just there as a constituent — by virtue of their title, they represent all teachers in their state and, by extension, all schools and students.

Of course, there’s also the annual visit to the White House.

Improving their teaching skills is a also a major focus of Washington Week. A big part of that comes courtesy of the Smithsonian, which offers CCSSO special visits to all its museums and galleries in D.C. Teachers are broken into smaller groups based on their specialty: art teachers to the American Art Museum and Portrait Gallery, history teachers to the National History Museum, and so forth. They don’t just see the sights, they do so in a way designed for them to learn

things they can take back to their classrooms. For example, a science teacher could track the evolution of landing gear from the Kitty Hawk (used by the Wright brothers on the first powered, controlled flight) to the Bell X-1 Glamorous Glennis (which Chuck Yeager flew when he became the first pilot to go faster than the speed of sound) to SpaceShipOne (the first privately developed, piloted vehicle to reach space).

Speaking of space … the next get together for the honorees comes in July in Huntsville, Alabama, where they partake in Space Camp. Again, this gathering aims to include all the greatness of Space Camp plus lessons and ideas the teachers can share with their students.

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In October, they meet in Princeton, New Jersey, for the Next Steps Conference. As the name implies, this is all about building skills to keep them moving forward.

If they enjoyed advocacy work and want to continue pushing for change, they’ll learn how. If an art teacher is looking for more ways to integrate science and math into their lesson plans, someone will work with them on that.

The gathering also includes an “opportunity fair,” where partners might offer teachers fellowships, internships or other contract work.

For many years, that was it.

Everyone said their goodbyes in Princeton and a new cycle began.

Before we get into when and how that changed, let’s finally take a look at the big prize: the National Teacher of the Year.

LEGACY Like being a Heisman Trophy winner, being a National Teacher of the Year becomes a permanent part of that person’s legacy, as in those words preceding their first name whenever they are introduced.

It’s a big responsibility, too.

Think of it this way: Just like the state winners represent every teacher in their state, the national winner represents every teacher in the country. The title is so prestigious that its weight lingers long after the year of their tenure.

This requires even more training in communication, policy and other necessary skills.

The winner also leaves their classroom for an entire year. They are so in demand for speeches and other obligations that it would be

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WASHINGTON WEEK: The 2017 State Teachers of the Year toured Washington D.C. as part of Washington Week. impossible to do both to the best of their ability.

There’s also a bit of a bully pulpit element to being the NTOY. They get to focus some of their time on the subjects they are passionate about. For last year’s winner, Sydney Chaffee, that included speaking about the importance of integrating social justice and arts into classrooms; for 2016 winner, Jahana Hayes, that meant focusing on students servicing their community outside of the classroom and expanding diversity in the recruitment of teachers.

So, who might wear the crown this year? The finalists are:

+ Amy T. Anderson, an American Sign Language teacher at Ocean City High in Ocean City, New Jersey.

+ Kara Ball, of DeLalio

Elementary School Americas Mid-Atlantic at Camp Lejeune

Jacksonville, North Carolina (Department of Defense Education Activity).

+ Jonathan Juravich, an

elementary art teacher of Liberty Tree Elementary in Powell, Ohio.

+ Mandy Manning, an English

and math teacher to refugee and immigrant students at the Newcomer Center at Ferris High School in Spokane, Washington.

Look for the announcement followed by a trip to the Rose Garden and a ceremony alongside President Trump in April during Washington Week.

IN THE SPOTLIGHT Through the work of the CFP Foundation’s Extra Yard for Teachers platform, Executive Director Britton Banowsky was

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at the White House for a meetand-greet with the president in May 2016 in coordination with the National Teacher of the Year ceremony. While waiting in line, Banowsky started chatting with the woman next to him. It was Hayes. She introduced him to Chris Minnich, the Executive Director of the CCSSO. Realizing the perfect intersection of their organizations and their aims, Banowsky and Minnich worked quickly to get the Class of 2016 to the 2017 CFP National Championship in Tampa, Florida and recognized on-field at halftime.

This January, in Atlanta, the ceremony was switched to the pregame show, putting the educators on the field for the National Anthem.

Championship weekend includes more continuing education opportunities, but mostly the weekend is the icing atop the cake, the last gasp of togetherness for the honorees and moments they’ll never forget atop a year they’ll never forget.

“It’s a special moment for them to be recognized in front of 75,000 people, and it’s true to what we’re trying to do by focusing attention on great teachers and teaching,” said Paul Ferrari, CCSSO Senior Program Director of Teacher Workforce.

“It’s very emotional, too. Both times, it’s been pretty astounding to see people stand and applaud teachers in such a genuine way.

It’s such a special thing.”

To learn more about the program, click here. Otherwise, class dismissed!

2018 NATIONAL TEACHER OF THE YEAR FINALISTS

Amy T. Anderson

Kara Ball

Ocean City, New Jersey

DeLalio Elementary School Americas Mid-Atlantic

Ocean City High

Camp Lejeune Jacksonville, North Carolina

Jonathan Juravich

Mandy Manning

Liberty Tree Elementary

Ferris High School

Powell, Ohio

Spokane, Washington

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