The Education Fund’s Teach-A-Thon provides an opportunity to engage and motivate students by enlisting business executives - known as Public School Champions, like you, who can teach Financial Literacy and other STEM skills, providing a boom to students and their educators. Students see the subject matter as important and necessary when you connect STEM skills to real-world applications (the impact of good credit scores in renting an apartment, for example). As well, you see into the classroom and discover why we need to support our public schools.
By experiencing the challenges of the teaching profession first-hand, you become an ambassador in the community for recruiting, retaining, and rewarding quality teachers in our public schools. Recruiting and retaining teachers has become a national crisis, but it is made more difficult in South Florida where a limited amount of affordable housing and below-average pay forces potential educators to pursue other careers.
You will train with expert teachers and learn what it takes to teach in the classroom. Like any walk-a-thon, it is both a fundraiser and an awareness campaign. Money raised benefits participating teachers of the Teach-A-Thon as well as The Education Fund's teacher grants and programs.
Did you know?
- Teaching quality is the single greatest determinant of student achievement.
- Nearly one-third of new teachers leave the profession after just three years; almost 50% are gone after five years.
- 9 out of 10 teachers have bought school supplies for their classrooms with their own funds (average out-of-pocket expenses total $800).
How does this affect our community?
- Miami-Dade County Public Schools is the fourth largest school district in the United States, comprised of 476 schools, 350,000 students and over 20,000 educators.
- Many students live in high poverty areas, in fact, 73% of students in M-DCPS qualify for federal free/reduced lunch.
- Only four out of 10 students from schools in high poverty areas go on to postsecondary education, reducing an annual earnings potential by more than $32,000.
Why volunteer for Teach-A-Thon?
- It helps to increase the appreciation for the teaching profession and raise funds for classroom grants.
- You can make a direct impact on students by exposing them to the business world.
- It’s fun and rewarding for business professionals and teachers!
Funds raised will support a variety of our programs, including:
- Teach-A-Thon Classroom Grants provide funds to teachers to develop and implement instructional projects that motivate and challenge students to learn.
- More than 51% of students involved with The Food Forest initiative improved their eating attitudes and more than 42% of students improved their eating habits this past year.
- Our SmartPath program (piloted in 3 high schools and currently in 5) has increased students’ college and postsecondary enrollment by 34%.
For sponsorship opportunities or more info, contact:
Marilen Marnett at 305.975.0507 or mmarnett@educationfund.org
Presenting Sponsor:
