OFFICIAL E-NEWSLETTER OF
APRIL 3, 2018 | VOL. 1, ISSUE 8
A TIME TO CELEBRATE
The Extra Yard for Teachers Summit provides an empowering atmosphere to honor and inspire teachers BY DAVID LEE
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he Extra Yard for Teachers (EYFT) Summit takes place every year in conjunction with the College Football Playoff National Championship. It’s a time to honor and celebrate the important work teachers do, giving them an atmosphere to network, hear inspiring speakers, participate in workshops and see incredible performances. The first event was held during the weekend of the 2015 national championship game in Dallas, TX with around 400 teachers in attendance and has grown to attract more than 2,500 teachers.
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The EYFT Summit is a culmination of the College Football Playoff (CFP) Foundation’s mission to equip and empower the teaching profession. It’s also a halftime break in the middle of the school year when most teachers are preparing for the second semester. “Teachers need to be celebrated and empowered, and we can create this environment at a time when they need it most,” says Britton Banowsky, Executive Director of the CFP Foundation. “They are so appreciative to have the opportunity to just relax with their peers and engage in a highly
produced event that celebrates the teaching profession.” Candace Butler, a teacher from the Atlanta area, attended the 2018 EYFT Summit. “It was insightful and very respectful and redeeming to have actual teachers talking to us about what we do every day,” she said. Sharon Lyle is President of Ensemble, the company that produces the EYFT Summit. She’s been involved with the event since the beginning, helping to create the design, develop the content, and the coordinate the speakers and performers.
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“At the Summit, we recognize the hard work of those on the front lines of education,” she says. “The event started as a way to bring people together to hear
The EYFT Summit has evolved to be more interactive and experienced-based, allowing attendees to engage with partners who advance and elevate teaching as a profession. “We know teachers’ salaries don’t reflect the amount of effort that teachers bring to the table,” Lyle says. “But we work really hard to create meaningful giveaways and takeaways within the construct of the Summit.” Banowsky says his favorite part of each EYFT Summit is seeing the National Teacher of the Year present to other teachers.
Our consistent feedback is that these teachers don’t have other opportunities like this where they feel so empowered and recognized for the work they do, with no strings attached.” SHARON LYLE various speakers and empower the teachers in the room. It’s a lot of celebration backed with a lot of content.”
EMPOWER: Teachers are able to connect with fellow teachers during the EYFT Summit.
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EQUIP: The EYFT Summit speakers aim to give teachers the tools for success in and out of the classroom. “I love seeing that professional connection,” he says. “You can tell they are inspired by each other in that moment.” For Lyle, seeing the energy of the teachers every year is the most rewarding part. “Our consistent feedback is that these teachers don’t have other opportunities like this where they feel so empowered and recognized for the work they do, with no strings attached,” she says. “The CFP Foundation really believes in the mission to advance the awareness of the professionalism of teachers and the work they do that goes unrecognized.” The EYFT Summit takes a full year of preparation and production. Each year the CFP Foundation team becomes familiar with the local area where the national championship game and EYFT Summit are held, including the educational communities. Each EYFT Summit creates a unique atmosphere and impacts the local community in different ways. Planning for the 2019 EYFT Summit is well underway in the San Jose, Calif., area.
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APRIL HONOREE
MANUEL MENDOZA ENGAGE: 2017 National Teacher of the Year, Sydney Chaffee, shared a wealth of knowledge with teachers during the 2018 EYFT Summit.
SURPRISE: Special guest and season 11 American Idol winner, Phillip Phillips, treated teachers to a private concert during the 2018 EYFT Summit. Living in the Dallas area where the CFP Foundation is based, Banowsky continues to experience the positive impact the EYFT Summit makes in the local community. He still runs into teachers and educators in the area who attended the first EYFT Summit. “They say how amazing it was and how it made a difference,” he says. “Teachers and educators go out of their way to tell us how grateful they are.”
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abriel Holguin’s freshman year at Gadsden High School in Anthony, New Mexico, was rocky. He struggled in several of his classes and felt like his teachers had given up on him. “A school board member even told me that my best bet was dropping out of school and ‘getting a job like a real man,’” he said. “I was told daily in a thousand different ways that I was worthless and that I wouldn’t succeed in life.” That spring, Gabriel was assigned to Manuel Mendoza’s Spanish class, and as Gabriel describes, “as soon as I walked into his class, I felt the love and the warmth that he had for his students.” Mendoza was born in Guanajuato, Mexico and moved to the United States in his early teens. Mendoza initially struggled with his schoolwork as he adjusted to a new language and culture. He persevered through these difficult years and went on to become a college graduate and respected Spanish teacher. He shares his personal experiences to connect with his students, many of whom, like Gabriel, are also struggling to succeed against significant obstacles. As Gabriel describes, “Mr. Mendoza always told me that if he could achieve his goals, why couldn’t I?” Visit www.honored.org to read Manuel Mendoza’s full story.
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A PEEK INTO THE FUTURE
Event planning is well underway in the Bay Area for the CFP Foundation BY JAIME ARON
A
s the College Football Playoff heads into a fifth season, organizers continue tweaking and tuning the system that determines college football’s top team. The same is true with the College Football Playoff (CFP) Foundation and its use of championship weekend to maximize its mission of elevating the teaching profession through the Extra Yard for Teachers platform. Some details about the festivities taking place Jan. 4-7, 2019, in the Bay Area will be announced at an upcoming news conference on April 11th. Other details are still in the works. Still, CFP Director of Community Relations Ryan Allen Hall offered a sneak peek into some of the upgrades that offer a perfect mix of business and pleasure for educators.
NEXT LEVEL: The CFP Foundation will engage teachers at events throughout championship weekend. Think of it as “Playoff Fan Central for teachers” for those who are familiar with CFP championship weekend events. That description is even more appropriate considering its location: inside the same venue as Playoff Fan Central, albeit on a different floor. The new-look EYFT Summit incorporates the best of two previous events: the EYFT Summit and the EYFT Lounge. The EYFT Lounge was a great place for teachers and their families to unwind, learn new skills, engage
The Extra Yard for Teachers Summit feedback has been so great that we wanted to offer more of it.” RYAN ALLEN HALL The headliner among the changes is a bigger, better Extra Yard for Teachers (EYFT) Summit. Originally a two-hour event, it’ll now be a twoday extravaganza on January 5-6, 2019 in San Jose, Calif.
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with fellow educators and enjoy refreshments. That’s not going away; it’s being folded into the new plans, with more ways to relax and be entertained. The EYFT Summit always brought together dynamic speakers offering TED-style talks. That will continue, too — there will just be more of them. Speakers and performers will take the stage on Saturday and Sunday, with educational insights and other takeaways to enhance the attendees’ experience. “The Extra Yard for Teachers Summit feedback has been so great that we wanted to offer more of it,” Hall said. “We had a four-hour gathering in 2017 that was well received, so we did a full day event
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SET THE SCENE: The National Teacher of the Year program honorees will be recognized on-field at the 2019 CFP National Championship. in 2018. Again, it was well received, so we’ve expanded it further. By spreading the Summit over two days, we can offer local educators more opportunities during championship weekend.”
lace ‘em up on Sunday morning. Hall’s description of the changes for this event repeatedly used the word “more.” As in, more entertainment options, more food choices, more interactive opportunities, more giveaways and, well, more. The big event Sunday night is the Taste of the Championship, a premium dining experience in which attendees get to taste food and drink from the host city. “Science and technology are staples of the Bay Area and Silicon Valley, and we’re going to find a creative way to integrate them into the Taste of the Championship,” Hall said. “We also want the event to be heavily focused on teacher recognition.”
Science and technology are staples of the Bay Area and Silicon Valley, and we’re going to find a creative way to integrate them into the Taste of the Championship.” RYAN ALLEN HALL Day 2 of the revamped EYFT Summit (Sunday, Jan. 6) will open and close with other CFP Foundation showcase events. It starts with the Extra Yard 5K, a 3.1-mile run that’s open to educators, their families and, of course, anyone else who chooses to
Game day is another huge opportunity for teacher recognition, and the CFP Foundation will continue its tradition of introducing the 56 honorees of the National Teacher of the Year Program. The teachers will once again be a significant part of the game day pageantry during the title game held at Levi’s Stadium. All 56 honorees — and their “plus ones”— will get VIP treatment throughout the weekend, Hall said. There’s another ingredient that adds to the potential for the 2019 events: The setting. The Bay Area is powered by deep thinkers. STEAM — the acronym for science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics — is both a key trend in education and the backbone of the companies that dominate the local landscape. “We’ve already been approached by many of the tech giants, and other non-traditional companies, who are very excited about the national championship game coming to the Bay Area,” Hall said. “We look forward to exploring those opportunities.” Some of those seeds were planted during the game in Atlanta. Many are already starting to bloom. “They saw the impact of what the CFP Foundation is doing in the education space tied to the game, and that really perked their ears up,” Hall said. “They see that we offer a unique platform, audience and reach. It’s all about making the most impact on education, especially for teachers.” While it’s all quite exciting, there will still be eight more months of adding, shaping and fine-tuning.
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