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OFE News Release

Fund for Teachers Hosts Grant Information Sessions

October 2, 2008
OKLAHOMA CITY -- Fund For Teachers (FFT), the Tulsa Community Foundation and the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence will hold proposal-writing information sessions this month to provide information about the Fund for Teachers – Oklahoma Program and its summer 2009 professional development grants.

Fund for Teachers is a donor-supported organization whose mission is to enrich the lives of schoolteachers and students by providing fellowships for self-designed professional growth to teachers who recognize the value of inquiry, the power of knowledge and their ability to make a difference. In cooperation with the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence and Tulsa Community Foundation, Fund for Teachers awards fellowships of up to $5,000 for individuals and $10,000 for teams to Oklahoma public, private, parochial and charter school teachers.

During the upcoming information sessions, teachers will have the opportunity to ask questions about eligibility and application requirements and to learn more details about the grant program and writing a proposal. Applications will be available Oct. 15 at www.fundforteachers.org and must be submitted online by 5 p.m. Jan. 30.

The 2009 grant season kicks off with two information sessions scheduled for the greater Tulsa and Oklahoma City areas. A session will be held at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 7, in the Student Union at Tulsa Community College’s Southeast Campus, 10300 E. 81st S. The metro-area session will be held at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 9, at Moore Public Schools' Administration Building, 1500 S.E. 4th. Another session will be held at 4 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 21, at Yukon Public Schools’ Administration Building Board Room, 600 Maple Dr. Some former Fund for Teachers fellows will also be conducting information sessions in their communities. Please visit www.ofe.org for more information and a schedule of additional locations.

The information sessions and Fund for Teachers fellowships 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.

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.