OFE News Release
Fund for Teachers Hosts Grant Information Session in Clinton
2007 Grant Applications Now Available to Enrich the Professional Growth of Teachers
October 25, 2006
OKLAHOMA CITY --
Public and private school teachers interested in learning about Fund for Teachers grant opportunities are invited to an information session at 5 p.m. Monday, Nov. 6, in the audio visual room at Clinton High School, 20th Street and Jaycee Lane.
The national Fund for Teachers (FFT), Tulsa Community Foundation and the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence will sponsor an information session to tell educators about the Fund for Teachers – Oklahoma Program and its summer 2007 professional development grants. Grant applications are available at www.fundforteachers.org and must be submitted online by 5 p.m., Jan. 16, 2007.
Oklahoma is the first state in the nation to offer Fund for Teacher grants to teachers statewide. Grants of up to $5,000 for individuals and $7,500 for teams are available to teachers from Oklahoma public, private, parochial and charter schools to provide self-designed summer professional development opportunities. Many recipients use the grants for overseas travel and to attend national or international conferences or workshops.
The information session and Fund for Teachers grants are open to all pre-K through 12th grade teachers who have three years of teaching experience, are full-time employees and spend at least 50 percent of their time in a classroom setting. In addition, applicants must have the intention of returning to their school and/or district following their summer professional development. Applicants will be selected based on each proposal’s merit—the potential for teacher growth and rejuvenation, as well as student, classroom and school impact.
Fund for Teachers enriches the professional growth of teachers by recognizing and supporting them as they identify and pursue opportunities around the globe that will have the greatest impact on their practice, the academic lives of their students and on their school communities. The Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence and the Tulsa Community Foundation are administrative partners for the Fund for Teachers – Oklahoma Program.
For more information, visit the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence Web site at www.ofe.org or contact Dayna Rowe by e-mail at drowe@ofe.org or phone at 405-236-0006.
Fund for Teachers
Fund for Teachers enriches the personal and professional growth of teachers by recognizing and supporting them as they identify and pursue opportunities around the globe that will have the greatest impact on their practice, the academic lives of their students and on their school communities. Making a difference one teacher at a time, Fund for Teachers provides funds for direct grants to teachers to support fellowships of their own design. FFT impacts teachers, classrooms, schools and students. It is estimated that one grant reaches 3,000 students over the span of a teacher’s career. To date, more than 2500 Fellows in 47 states and Puerto Rico have studied and traveled throughout the United States and 91 other countries on seven continents. Founded by Apache Corp. Chairman Raymond Plank, the foundation’s enrichment fund is supported by foundations, individual and corporate donors.
Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence
Founded in 1985 by then-U.S. Sen. David L. Boren, the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence is a nonprofit organization dedicated to recognizing and encouraging academic excellence in Oklahoma’s public schools. Its programs include a televised academic awards program to recognize outstanding students and educators, a training and outreach service to public school foundations, a partnership with the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation to provide teacher training and electronic field trips to Oklahoma schools, a teacher scholarships program for professional development, and a new mentoring initiative to promote the establishment and growth of school-based mentoring programs throughout the state
Tulsa Community Foundation
Tulsa Community Foundation is a public charity that was organized in 1998 by an esteemed group of business and civic leaders to receive, protect and distribute gifts from individuals and organizations.