The Extra Yard, Vol. 2, Issue 3

OFFICIAL E-NEWSLETTER OF

OCTOBER 3, 2018 | VOL. 2, ISSUE 3

EIGHT DAYS A WEEK

Extra Yard for Teachers Week was celebrated from coast-to-coast as student-athletes, coaches, administrators and fans showed love and admiration to our nation’s educators BY JAIME ARON

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rom features on ESPN’s College GameDay to decals on helmets, from the growing trend of surprising teachers with donations to perhaps the next trend of handling the ceremonial coin toss, the fourth of installment of Extra Yard for Teachers (EYFT) Week was easily the best yet.

Extra Yard for Teachers is the College Football Playoff (CFP) Foundation’s signature cause platform, the vehicle used by the CFP to highlight perhaps its most important constituency after student-athletes: the educators who prepare those young men for college.

EYFT Week is an opportunity for college football programs to show their support and admiration for K-12 educators. Using a Beatles-esque interpretation of what constitutes a week,

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this celebration lasts eight days (two Saturdays and thus, two gamedays). This year, it ran September 15-22.

The first year or two, EYFT Week was all about introducing the initiative and its iconic logo, a green apple with a white football

in the center. The next phase was explaining to the masses what exactly the CFP Foundation accomplishes through EYFT. By this year, the event and the organization were entrenched enough for folks to get it — and to really get into it.

INSIDE THIS ISSUE // ↗ EXTRA YARD FOR TEACHERS WEEK PG 3

↗ HELPING TEACHERS MAKE A

↗ KENDRA SCOTT GOES

↗ OCTOBER 2018 HONOREE PG 6

↗ #EXTRAYARDWEEK PG 7

HOME IN THE BAY AREA PG 5

THE EXTRA YARD PG 6

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“They understand the mission, and they recognize the apple,” said Ryan Allen Hall, Director of Community Relations for the CFP. “Now it’s all about amplifying our message.”

One example of the evolution is how ESPN and other layers in the ABC family approached the week.

Broadcasts didn’t just offer a courtesy mention. Producers and reporters baked it into the stories they produced for College GameDay and in-game broadcasts, such as a feature on Oregon’s hometown-hero quarterback Justin Herbert, including attention

on his alma mater, Sheldon High School. ESPN also featured “Thank a Teacher” videos with on-air personalities, and amplified the

who played key roles in the lives of student-athletes and coaches, as well as on the parents of studentathletes who are teachers.

“They really have taken it to the next They really have taken it to the level, investing their own production next level, investing their own time and talent into production time and talent into making Extra Yard making Extra Yard for Teachers for Teachers Week a Week a success.” success,” Hall said.

RYAN ALLEN HALL “That’s clearly a level of accomplishment for program through the network’s us. It shows how credible the Extra social media outlets. Spotlights Yard for Teachers platform is in also were shined on educators their eyes.”

LET’S HEAR IT FOR TEACHERS: Student-athletes and coaches from across college football weren’t shy about saying “thank you” to the teachers in their lives during EYFT Week.

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OFFICIAL E-NEWSLETTER OF

SEPTEMBER 15–22, 2018

VIEW PHOTO GALLERY

AUDIENCE REACHED

A national audience gained knowledge of Extra Yard for Teachers Week through in-stadium activations and on-air recognition.

$1.8 MILLION

28.2 MILLION IMPRESSIONS

MEDIA VALUE

COMMUNITY IMPACT

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and its partners.

100

TEACHERS

7,146

STUDENTS

PARTNERS SUPPORTED EXTRA YARD FOR TEACHERS WEEK ACROSS THE COUNTRY

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STATES

SOCIAL MEDIA ENGAGEMENT

Check out #ExtraYardWeek to see how college football supported teachers.

1.3 MILLION

15%

9%

9%

IMPRESSIONS

SAVE THE DATE: SEPTEMBER 14–21

2019 EXTRA YARD FOR TEACHERS WEEK

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Hall was also quick to credit conference networks for going above and beyond. Perhaps the most visible example of EYFT Week was seeing the logo on the back of hundreds of helmets, including more large state schools than in previous years. Alabama head coach Nick Saban wore an EYFT pin on his shirt to a postgame news conference.

Ohio State surprised a teacher by purchasing everything requested for their classroom on the DonorsChoose.org, a crowdfunding platform and valued CFP Foundation partner that allows teachers to request school supplies.

Calli Pelegrin, a fifth- and sixthgrade teacher from Imagine Academy at Sullivant in Columbus, was this year’s Ohio State honoree.

A terrific video features former Ohio State star Ryan Miller and Buckeyes mascot Brutus delivering the good news.

A wrinkle introduced this year that’s ripe for copycatting comes from the University of South Florida. Three teachers were honored on the field before the game, including Michelle Fisher, a USF alum who teaches at Eagle Creek Elementary School and who was the 2017-18 STEM Alliance Elementary Math Teacher of the Year for Orange County Public Schools. Fisher served as an honorary captain.

“She was out there with the other captains, shaking hands with the other team’s captains and the refs, then she flipped the coin to start the game,” Hall said. “We had not seen that one before, but I imagine you’re going to see it a lot more.”

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TEACHERS FIRST: Across college football, student-athletes used EYFT Week as an opportunity to thank teachers in their communities. They even wore the iconic green apple on their helmets.

To Hall, the best thing to come from this year’s event is sustained momentum. He’s already looking forward to a spike in results next year.

“I feel like we took a big step,” he said. “I expect even more coordinated, large-scale events for our fifth annual Extra Yard for Teachers Week.”

Best of all, he added, the real winner in all of this is teachers.

“We know it’s making an impact,” Hall said. “And it excites us because so many of our constituents are motivated and mobilized. There’s no other sports entity supporting teachers in such a large-scale manner. We’re very proud of that.”

ON FIELD RECOGNITION: Universities honored educators welcoming them onto the field — allowing hundreds of thousands of fans to show their appreciation.

OFFICIAL E-NEWSLETTER OF

HELPING TEACHERS MAKE A HOME IN THE BAY AREA

Landed partnership helps provide road to homeownership for local educators

BY DAVID LEE

T

he 2019 College Football Playoff National Championship kicks off in Santa Clara, Calif., in a few months, but the Bay Area is already benefitting in big ways.

In September, the CFP Foundation and Bay Area Host Committee (BAHC) partnered for two events that will take support of teachers in the region the extra yard — and then some.

The first was the launch of a partnership between the CFP Foundation, the BAHC and Landed to help make the dream of homeownership a reality for Bay Area teachers and public school staff. Landed is dedicated to making homeownership more accessible and less risky through financial coaching and down payment assistance.

DREAM MAKER: Landed co-founder Alex Lofton believes a house is more than an investment — it’s a home. And by giving teachers a path to home ownership in their community, it strengthen the entire community.

order to afford the down payment on a home. The grants are part of an overall $1 million commitment that the CFP Foundation and BAHC are making We believe in aiding the essential to teachers in the Bay professionals who uphold our Area.

“Teachers are the children and our society.” most valuable resource ALEX LOFTON we have in this The partnership was announced country, and the lack of affordable in mid-September at Oak Grove housing for educators has a direct High School in San Jose, Calif. The effect on the quality of education for CFP Foundation and BAHC will make young people nationwide, including a series of grants to area teachers the Bay Area,” said CFP Foundation that will total $150,000. The grants Executive Director Britton Banowsky. will be made in increments of “We’re thrilled to be able to come $5,000 or more to help teachers together with the BAHC and Landed who need that little extra help in to bring awareness to this issue and

to help Bay Area teachers achieve the dream of owning a home.”

“We believe in aiding the essential professionals who uphold our children and our society,” said Landed co-founder Alex Lofton.

“Partnerships like this one prove there’s a collective will here in the Bay Area, not only to discuss the housing challenges that have reached a crisis point for too many people — including our educators — but to address this problem through innovation and shared action.”

Bay Area public school teachers and staff interested in being considered for the down payment grant can sign up online at Landed.com/ExtraYard.

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CONFERENCE PARTNER

KENDRA SCOTT GOES

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eachers received a little well-deserved pampering, and plenty of funds were raised for educators across the Bay Area, at the Kendra Scott store in San Jose’s Santana Row shopping center on September 22. The Bay Area Host Committee invited 25 teachers who have participated in the 49ers EDU professional development series for a champagne reception and chance to get a peek at the brand’s latest styles.

The event also provided additional funding for the CFP Foundation’s Extra Yard for Teachers (EYFT) initiatives in the Bay Area. Twenty percent of all store sales that day were donated to EYFT.

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AFTERNOON OF CELEBRATION: Kendra Scott made a group of Bay Area teachers feel special while raising money for EYFT.

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OCTOBER 2018 HONOREE

M

Marc Kimmerly

arc Kimmerly teaches history and civics in Odessa, New York, a rural community that grew up around a grist mill built in 1801.

“People here do country things: make maple syrup, go fishing, heat their home with firewood … It’s a very small community, very tight knit, very conservative,” said Kimmerly.

It was in this close community that Kimmerly met Gabe Grover, a seventh grader who had just returned from the school system after being homeschooled for two years.

Grover described himself as “really stressed out” He’s a fantastic about returning, but teacher who Kimmerly’s engaging makes his lessons teaching and interest in his students’ well-being interesting and alleviated his concerns. fun.”

“Right away, I was made to feel welcome and GABE GROVER supported,” Grover said.

“It was like he made it his personal business to be sure that my transition went well, which made a tremendous difference for me.”

Kimmerly works hard to connect with his students personally and intellectually: “You have to make history come alive,” he said. “All kids can learn, they just have to be exposed to the material in a way that interests them and that means something to them … That’s what engages the students.”

For students like Grover, Kimmerly’s approach makes all the difference. “He’s a fantastic teacher who makes his lessons interesting and fun,” said Grover.

Visit honored.org to read Marc Kimmerly’s full story.

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OFFICIAL E-NEWSLETTER OF

#EXTRAYARDWEEK Social media lit it up during EYFT Week. Here are just a few examples of how the college football community took to social to express their love and respect of our educators:

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#EXTRAYARDWEEK, Continued

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OFFICIAL E-NEWSLETTER OF

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Follow @CFPExtraYard on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Use #CFPExtraYard to join the conversation and see the positive impact Extra Yard for Teachers continues to make across the country.

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@CFPExtraYard

#CFPExtraYard #CFPFoundation CFP-FOUNDATION.ORG

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