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As of September 13th I will be the new CEO of Champions For Learning, the education foundation responsible for creating life-changing learning experiences for every student, with a community that is 100% engaged in support of student success. Champions For Learning serves a unique role in bringing the community together to support a culture of learning and innovation.

I’d like to thank Susan McManus for the work that she has done over the years. The legacy that she is leaving is incredible.  A special thanks to Dr. Terrie Mitev for serving as the interim.  She’s done an amazing job meeting with the staff and bringing the students together. I look forward to working and continuing to advance the Champions For Learning mission.

From a young age, I’ve understood the importance of education. I moved to this country as a toddler and had a parent who couldn’t help me with homework. I relied on my teachers to offer me assistance. I couldn’t be more honored to have been chosen to lead the Champions For Learning and to support an organization that is working to support our educators.

There are great things happening at Champions. Everything from the new technical pathways pilot, the new support of the CCPS entrepreneurship program, and continuing to honor and support Collier County’s educators.

Thank you,
Barbara

Florida Weekly

Champions For Learning’s Classroom Grants: Find It, Fund It Collier portal is now open for the community to fund classroom projects that Collier County teachers have submitted for the 2022- 2023 school year.

Collier County teachers can apply for a classroom grant to help support innovative learning experiences within their classroom. Individual teachers (or teams) may apply for up to $2,000 per grant request and may submit multiple requests, if they are for different projects. Collier County teachers can learn more and apply for Classroom Grants through the Champions For Learning website, www.ChampionsForLearning. org.

Last year 226 Classroom Grants were funded by our community investing $115,230 into Collier County schools, impacting teachers and students across 53 schools.

Once Collier County educators submit their grant request, the classroom grants can be funded through one of two ways. Classroom grants can be funded by the Classroom Grants Fund, which is determined by a committee, or through community-based funding, sometimes known as crowdfunding. Classroom Grant requests must be posted by Tuesday, Sept. 13, to be considered for funding by the Classroom Grants Fund. For community-based funding, Classroom Grants must be posted by March 10, 2023.

The community has the opportunity to provide life-changing learning experiences to students through funding classroom grants. Visit www.ChampionsForLearning.org/CWACgrants to see a list of grants waiting to be funded and choose which local teachers and classrooms you want to support.

Thanks to a charitable gift from Suncoast Credit Union, which supports the technology and capacity for the Classroom Grant Find It, Fund It portal, 100% of community contribution goes into supporting teacher grants.

You can also help fund Classroom Grants through the License to Learn Fund (Florida Education Tag). Collier County community members can buy the new version of the license plate tag now, $20 of the annual fee is donated to Champions For Learning and 100% of the funds support classroom grants.

Starting kindergarten can be scary for some, but one Collier County student is doing what he can to make the beginning of the school year a little more enjoyable.

Bailey M. is entering his senior year at Naples High School. To get ahead on some community service hours this summer, Bailey handcrafted 28 cards for local kindergarten students to have as they begin school.

“I have a really fond memory of when I was in kindergarten, an older kid coming to read to us”, said Bailey. “I wanted just to do something similar for other kindergarteners today. So they have something fun to look back on.”

Bailey made each card colorful with drawings of school supplies with the note inside, “Welcome to Kindergarten! Have fun and enjoy your year. Be kind and respect your teacher.”

Bailey says, “I wanted to include a message on the inside, but I wasn’t really sure how well they could read. So, I just tried to keep it pretty simple.”

The idea of making 28 cards for kindergartners in Collier County came from a website the Collier County Public School District uses to communicate service opportunities with students. Many of the volunteer opportunities offered to high school students are as a result of an earlier collaborative effort through Future Ready Collier (FRC) to aid students in their search for approved service hours towards scholarships and other opportunities.  Champions For Learning is a partner with and backbone organization supporting Future Ready Collier, a network of organizations, businesses, schools and community members working to ensure every child in Collier County is ready for Kindergarten, and every young person enters adulthood with a vision and plan to accomplish that vision.

“There were a few opportunities that I was debating doing, but this one stood out to me. It just felt like something that was up my alley”, said Bailey.

When these cards are delivered to kindergarten students beginning their educational career, Bailey says he hopes they enjoy opening the cards and it is fun for them. That is why he included lots of colors and picture, so that it would appeal to kindergarteners.

Reporter: Jennifer Morejon Writer: Paul Dolan, WINK News

Collier County teacher Sandy Mendoza knows teachers and parents spend a lot of money doing back-to-school shopping, and inflation is worsening the financial stress.

A Southwest Florida non-profit is trying to help ease that financial stress building up on teachers.

“In the beginning of the year it’s about $200 for notebooks, composition books in order to keep things organized, we purchase those things … and throughout the year, with our different activities and projects that we have, we continue to buy things throughout the year,” said Mendoza, a Calusa Park Elementary School teacher for the last 23 years.

“We do purchase a lot of things so our kids feel comfortable and they are not worried. A lot of the students can’t afford them, the families are going through rough times… it’s wonderful to color and draw with brand-new pencils and crayons,” said Mendoza.

Champions For Learning is helping teachers and parents not feel the constriction of the financial stress through their classroom grants. Teachers can apply for up to $2,000 for supplies, field trips, and other special projects.

“I think that so many people are looking for ways to support our teachers and our students,” said Amy Snyder the director of the educator programs for Champions For Learning.

The community and local businesses donated more than $115,000 helping more than 200 teachers in 2021.

“Champion For Learning and the grants they give are a bridge between schools and the community,” said Mendoza.

Champions For Learning is hopeful they can beat the $115,000 in donations this year. Anyone who would like to support the cause can donate to Champions For Learning year round.

Rashaad Vann, Fox 4 Southwest Florida

On average, $750 was spent on school supplies by teachers last year.

Historically, it’s the highest amount ever spent according to the Adopt-A-Classroom website.

“When you think about things that you want for the classroom, there are things we were looking for even yesterday that Amazon currently doesn’t have,” Dr. Cindy Gomez, Collier County Public Schools District TSA said. “So we have to be creative.”

Dr. Gomez talks about the challenges teachers face when trying to come by school supplies.

“Teachers have the ability to say, ‘well I’m going to get creative. This is the way I still can make it happen,’” Gomez said. “But I need A B and C.”

Teachers are able to get grants for supplies to create innovative projects and more for students with the help of the Classroom Grant Opportunity portal held by Champions For Learning.

“They can write that grant up to $2,000 and say ‘this is what I want to do, and this is how many students that it’s going to reach.’” Gomez said.

“It is also an incredible opportunity for our community to get to know our teachers,” Amy Snyder, Director of Educators Programs for Champions For Learning said.

Snyder said residents are able to see what teachers may need and how they can help out.

“The supplies needed to do a school garden and someone who’s excited about gardens is going to say, ‘hey I’m going to get on that,’” Snyder said. “’I’m going to make sure that the school can have this opportunity.’”

“It’s a great way for teachers to reach lots of students in a variety of ways,” Gomez said.

The classroom grant portal is open to the community, anyone is able to donate and see a list of classroom grant requests.

Bank of America announced two Southwest Florida high school seniors were selected as Student Leaders (#BofAStudentLeaders), an eight-week summer internship providing students with firsthand experience in serving their communities. Started in 2004, the prestigious, paid internship recognizes 300 community focused juniors and seniors from across the U.S. annually and offers sessions in workforce skills, leadership, and civic engagement with local nonprofits, including Champions for Learning. As part of the program, they will earn $17 per hour and receive a Chromebook.

If you aren’t familiar with Scholar Bowl, imagine a large group of students that are working to answer questions covering anything from History, Science, Art, even current events. Students that participate in Scholar Bowl are very well-rounded and prepare by studying for these difficult concept questions.

Aaron Chambers, Social Studies teacher at Lely High, gathered 40 of the brightest students on campus and entered as a team for this past years Scholar Bowl. To be successful, the team needed study materials to help them prepare for the competition.

To meet the need of his students, Chambers applied for a Champions for Learning Classroom Grant and received funds donated from Jeff & Ida Margolis, that allowed him to purchase the necessary items. Chambers shared, “We have the framework in place and have been recruiting the right kids to make up for our deficiencies this past season. Having the student guides should go a long way in helping prepare the students to complete in our next season”.

From the community support of the donation, the Lely High team came in 4^th in the region. This is a wonderful accomplishment for the students and an encouraging reminder that hard work pays off.

The outcome of this classroom grant is a great reminder to students and members of Collier County how the impact of one can change the lives of many.

Collier County teachers! The classroom grants portal is now open for submissions. You can apply for a grant here.

All grants will be made public for community based funding for the 2022-2023 school year starting on July 19th.

In the meantime, support classroom grants in Collier County by purchasing a Support Education license plate. When a Florida resident purchases or renews their Support Education specialty tag, $20 goes directly back to support schools, teachers and students in the county where the tag is registered.  In Collier County, Champions For Learning, The Education Foundation of Collier County, invests 100% of those proceeds into classroom grants.

Lindsay Lydon is a graduate of Champions For Learning’s Take Stock in Children mentoring and scholarship program. She is currently a junior at Florida Gulf Coast University studying marketing and advertising and is interning with Champions For Learning this summer.

Many of us take our independence for granted and don’t realize that simple tasks may be challenges for others. In our community, students with learning or behavioral disabilities are assigned to special education classrooms where devoted teachers work with transition students on skills to help them build real world knowledge.

Naples High School teachers Nicole Rennie, Scott Barham, and Jen Szcepkowski applied for a Champions For Learning Classroom Grant to fund a fun and engaging classroom activity for their special needs students. Three 12^th grade classes were provided cooking supplies provided by The Poinciana Civic Association, Brad & Phyllis Estes, Michael Mitchell, and Margaret Carlson fund.

The cooking activities allowed their students to follow directions, collecting the items by making a shopping list and preparing the recipe. Items included cooking tacos, pancakes, eggs and toast, baked goods, spaghetti with garlic bread and many more. “Our students love doing anything with food because at the end they get to enjoy whatever they cooked. It also provides a time for us to practice our manners and social skills”, stated Rennie.

The hands-on approach to learning is very engaging and will be a memorable skill for these students.

Collier County teachers! The classroom grants portal is now open for submissions. You can apply for a grant here.

All grants will be made public for community funding starting on July 19th.

In the meantime, support classroom grants in Collier County by purchasing a Support Education license plate. When a Florida resident purchases or renews their Support Education specialty tag, $20 goes directly back to support schools, teachers and students in the county where the tag is registered.  In Collier County, Champions For Learning, The Education Foundation of Collier County, invests 100% of those proceeds into classroom grants.

Lindsay Lydon is a graduate of Champions For Learning’s Take Stock in Children mentoring and scholarship program. She is currently a junior at Florida Gulf Coast University studying marketing and advertising and is interning with Champions For Learning this summer.