The Extra Yard, October 2023

COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF FOUNDATION

OCTOBER 2023

NEWSLETTER

A DECADE OF SUPPORTING TEACHERS

The College Football Playoff Foundation Has Left an Indelible Impact on Education and the Teaching Profession Over the Last 10 Years

BY DAVID LEE

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ou can’t watch college football today without seeing that green apple with a football imprint on it at some point. The Extra Yard for Teachers logo is synonymous with empowering teachers and supporting students across the country.

Extra Yard for Teachers is the College Football Playoff (CFP) Foundation’s community outreach arm. It’s entering its 10th year and has become the largest sports entity dedicated to supporting teachers. Whether it’s equipping teachers with critical resources, advancing STEM programs, fueling national recognition platforms, or helping revolutionize the

The growth has been l exponentia

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classroom experience, the true lasting positive impact is immeasurable. But a few key metrics can help quantify what’s been accomplished so far.

Since its inception, the CFP Foundation and its partners have invested $70 million toward advancing education, supported more than 500,000 teachers, reached 10 million students, and has benefited 55,000 schools. The growth has been exponential, but its humble origin, coinciding with the launch of the College Football Playoff for the 2014 season, was an ambitious experiment to elevate the teaching profession through resources, recognition, professional development and recruitment and retention.

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“When we were considering whether to try this experiment — using a big platform like the College Football Playoff to solve social challenges and needs like education — we weren’t absolutely sure at the time,” said CFP Foundation Executive Director Britton Banowsky.

“Education got identified because the College Football Playoff is an extension of higher education. We realized that teachers ed, we in particular needed As we evolv ing a vid support, and they still got into pro ount of m need support there. ignificant a eachers s They are generally ources for t oms. s e r underrecognized, and ro in the class the prestige in the WSKY N BANO profession is not where it BRITTO should be. Narrowly focusing on educators and education has helped us drive impact in a way that we know we’re making a difference.”

EXPONENTIAL IMPACT THROUGH PARTNERSHIPS Education is a cornerstone for strong communities.

It’s the basis of self-empowerment, economies, employment opportunities and civic engagement.

As the CFP Foundation’s impact started to take off,

locking arms with partners throughout college football, media and other various philanthropy organizations helped expand the reach exponentially.

“As we evolved, we got into providing a significant amount of resources for teachers in the classrooms,” Banowsky said. “We developed a lot of programming to support the mission.

The last five to seven years have been about scaling the work through our partners.”

The CFP Foundation began leveraging the larger platform of college football, and today partners with every FBS conference and their member institutions and every bowl game, plus ESPN, conference networks and corporate partners such as Dr Pepper, Eckrich, and Cheez-It. Thanks to its partnership with the DonorsChoose platform that allows teachers to submit requests for specific classroom needs, the CFP Foundation can better ensure that funding does directly to the teachers that need it and for what they need the most to support their students.

“Without that kind of support, we couldn’t get it done,” Banowsky said of the partners. “The conferences plus Notre Dame have been unbelievably generous and supportive of this work over the years.”

ACCUMULATED IMPACT

$70M IN SUPPORT

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500K TEACHERS SUPPORTED

10M STUDENTS REACHED

55K SCHOOLS BENEFITED

Early on, Extra Yard for Teachers Week was created to honor teachers in local communities at the beginning of the school year. Teacher Appreciation Week is in May, but Banowsky thought it would be nice to honor and encourage teachers as they were getting back into the classroom. Universities and conferences quickly joined in to support it, while ESPN and conference networks started to highlight teachers and broadcast special donations. Organizations across the country outside of football have also participated.

Three years ago, the Big Day for Teachers was added during Extra Yard for Teachers Week as a singleday concerted effort of community impact across the extended college football family. Millions of dollars in investments are announced that day, and thousands of people support teachers in multifaceted ways. Grants are announced, finalists for the National Teachers Hall of Fame are highlighted, and student-athletes and coaches surprise teachers and tell stories of the impact those educators have made.

LASTING CHANGE The CFP Foundation’s work aims to impact communities long term. Whenever the next College Football Playoff National Championship location is announced, the work immediately begins by identifying specific needs in local schools. Through the mission, complete technology centers have been created, gardens have been built and teacher retention and recruitment campaigns to fill classroom vacancies have been greatly improved. Looking back over the last decade, Banowsky said that providing classroom resources stands out as the most impactful, filling the gap between what educators have in the classroom and what they need to be successful.

“We pride ourselves in the way we approach the legacy work in these communities, because we go in really early, engage, and try to be really good listeners about the needs of the community,” Banowsky said. “We’ve had some amazing stories, whether it’s college readiness in Tampa or literacy in Atlanta or the recruitment and retention of teachers in New Orleans. It’s hard to make change in the education space in a couple months. It takes years to get the outcomes you’re looking for. That’s why we go in early and stay late.”

The College Football Playoff Foundation and ESPN have teamed up for 10 years to recognize great teachers. This December, we will be doing even more to support schools through a new initiative — Touchdown for Teachers. For every touchdown scored during a college football bowl game, teachers will earn $1,000 toward classroom resources for their students.

MORE DETAILS COMING SOON! cfp-foundation.org

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For the 2021 national championship game in Miami, EXPANSION AHEAD the CFP Foundation began work years prior when the South Florida location was announced as a host.

As the College Football Playoff enters its 10th Nearly 50 middle schools in Miami-Dade County and season of a four-team tournament, it will evolve into surrounding areas were identified for turning outdated a 12-team bracket next year. The playoff expansion libraries into technology centers. Despite navigating presents new opportunities, more fan and media the COVID-19 pandemic in the 2020 season, by the attention, increased revenue, and a larger impact for time the national the CFP Foundation. championship game Poms said a 12-team was played, half of the playoff will bring a CFP library makeovers were game to the South completed.

Florida community “They’re used year every year through after year after year to the semifinal and the next generation of quarterfinal rotation, students,” said Orange which offers more Bowl CEO Eric Poms, opportunities to who grew up in the partner with the Extra Miami area attending Yard for Teachers public schools. “So, program. we estimate there’s “If you have 12 approximately 30,000 teams, obviously students and teachers there’s going to be between Miami-Dade a whole lot more County, Broward opportunity to raise County and Palm Beach awareness and County that would be funding,” Banowsky impacted by these said. “So, we see facility upgrades. We growth in revenue, but couldn’t do this without we also see growth in the CFP Foundation. our potential to make I have an incredible an impact during the sense of gratitude to early rounds of the Britton [Banowsky], the Playoff by investing CFP Foundation, Bill in the communities Hancock and the CFP, that are hosting and the board of managers, expanding our overall and the management postseason footprint.”

STAYING POWER: The College Football Playoff Foundation committee for giving Historian Henry has impacted more than 500,000 teachers since its us this capacity.”

Adams once wrote inception in 2014.

This season’s title that “a teacher affects game comes to Houston, eternity: he can never and it’s one of the largest undertakings in the CFP tell where his influence stops.” If that’s true, then the Foundation’s history. The Houston Loves Teachers impact of the CFP Foundation will never cease, either. initiative was created to envelope the work happening What it’s planting—along with its many partners—in there. It has involved more than 15,000 educators in communities across the country will ripple through the area so far. generations.

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A MESSAGE FROM

CHRIS MASSEY Houston 2024 Host Committee President

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s the summer sun begins to mellow (even if the temperatures are staying the same!), the Houston Host Committee finds itself opening an exciting new chapter: the return of college football! As teams return to the gridiron, there is an undeniable buzz of anticipation in the air for the 2024 College Football Playoff (CFP) National Championship in Houston!

The month of August was an exciting one. Our Houston 2024 Host Committee got the chance to support teachers as they prepared for their school hallways to echo with laughter, curiosity, and the vibrant energy of their students. Some of the highlights of our August activities included connecting with Houstonians at various activations and community activities, including Houston Texans training camp, Rice University’s Football Kickoff, and the University of Houston’s Cage Rage event.

As we head into fall, I am excited to continue connecting with Houstonians and showcasing what makes our city great: passion, culture, and fun.

The Harris County – Houston Sports Authority and the 2024 Host Committee made sure September 19th was a “Big Day” for Houston teachers, spreading love and resources to educators across the city.

WATCH VIDEO

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A HUGE THANK YOU TO ALL OF OUR TEACHERS! Hundreds of CFP Foundation partners participated in thousands of teacher recognition activation and resource surprises across the entire country during this year’s Extra Yard for Teachers Week.

THANKS!

a to Florid From gon, o Ore t o i h O re ers we te ach and rated b e l e c . n i ze d recog

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SPREADING THE LO VE Great partners like DonorsChoose make it easy to help teachers.

Recognizing Educators

Thousand s of teachers received funds for classroom resource s during Extra Yard Week!

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Extra Yard for Teachers Week Recap GIFT BAGS

Celebrating Teachers

rd for Extra Ya s Week Teacher ame me ans g d balls an e s! high-fiv

ESPN and conference networks joined the celebration of educators.

MOLDING THE FUTU

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RE

Surprise Checks

are Teachers uge h making a e in our differenc lives! children’s

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A BIG DAY IN BIG D

Celebrating 10 Years Right Back Where It All Started

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ome anniversaries are best celebrated at home.

That’s exactly what the College Football Playoff (CFP) Foundation did when it came to commemorating its 10th anniversary on the 2023 Big Day for Teachers.

The Big Day in Big D. It has a nice ring to it.

The fourth annual Big Day for Teachers was held on September 19 — the largest single-day effort of community impact by the extended college football family, completely focused on educators. The CFP Foundation, which is based in North Texas, hosted a pep rally at Mount Auburn STEAM Academy in Dallas to commemorate 10 years of inspiring, empowering and supporting teachers. The celebration included cheerleaders, a marching band and an auditorium filled with second and third graders helping welcome pro football Hall of Famer

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and Heisman Trophy winner (and Mount Auburn alum) Tim Brown. Ten years ago, Brown also joined the CFP Foundation at Mount Auburn to officially kick off its overall national mission to support teachers.

“I’m just so thankful for the education I got, and it was all because of wonderful teachers,” said Brown. “I’m fortunate and I understand what my teachers did for me. There’s no way I am who I am today without the education I received at Woodrow Wilson and when I was here at Mount Auburn.

Teachers deserve our support and recognition. It’s always wonderful to be a part of days like today.”

Emceed by ESPN’s Ian Fitzsimmons, the Big Day pep rally also included representatives from all four of North Texas’ college football bowl games – the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic, the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl, the

Scooter’s Coffee Frisco Bowl and the SERVPRO First Responder Bowl. The CFP Foundation presented a check for $10,000 to Mount Auburn to go directly to teacher and education supplies and projects. Part of the $10,000 included each bowl surprising a different Mount Auburn teacher with a $1,000 DonorChoose gift card for classroom resources.

Additionally, the Cotton Bowl Foundation utilized the CFP Foundation’s grant-matching program to gift $50,000 each to four local organizations that support teachers and education – Catch Up and Read, the Educator Collective, United to Learn and City Teaching Alliance. The CFP Foundation contributed $100,000 to match the Cotton Bowl Foundation’s $100,000 for a total of $200,000 on the four grants.

“It’s so important to support teachers with all they do for our

children,” said Dave Brown, Chair, Cotton Bowl Athletic Association and Cotton Bowl Foundation. “We have such a great relationship with the CFP Foundation. With their support, we’re able to double the giving to organizations like the four we were able to provide grants to today.”

“It’s fantastic to be part of the Big Day and give back to teachers in our community,” said Scooter’s Coffee Frisco Bowl Executive Director Sean Johnson. Teachers are forming the minds of our future leaders and we are so thankful for their hard work.”

Nationwide, thousands of teachers were recognized, and millions of students benefited on the Big Day, with many announcements made by CFP Foundation partners in how they are investing in education for the coming year. Overall, an estimated $1.5 million was invested in teacher resources on the Big Day through individual grants and DonorsChoose gift cards.

“We’re thrilled that we could celebrate this great milestone on the Big Day at Mount Auburn where we held the CFP Foundation’s inaugural kickoff 10 years ago,” said CFP Foundation Executive Director Britton Banowsky. “We’d like to thank all of our partners and friends like Tim Brown, as well as the conferences, schools, studentathletes, broadcasters and bowl games. We couldn’t do all that we do without their continued support.

The nationwide impact we have had on educators over our first 10 years has been tremendous. We can’t wait to see what we can accomplish over our next 10.”

SATURDAY, JANUARY 6 HOUSTON, TEXAS The 2024 Extra Yard for Teachers Summit is sure to inspire and empower you! This free event is open to all educators and will feature inspiring speeches from high profile speakers, giveaways, and a peer to peer networking reception.

Both in-person and virtual attendee options are available.

REGISTER NOW

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