After 12 years of funding mini-grants for innovative academic programs and scholarships for paraprofessionals pursing careers in education, the Fayette County Education Foundation announces a new focus for the 2013-2014 school year.
This year the foundation is setting aside mini-grant and paraprofessional scholarship awards to focus on its new initiative, “Educator A.M.P.L.I.F.Y. (Advancing More Professional Learning in Fayette Yearly).
Fayette’s teachers have voiced that professional learning opportunities at each grade level are strongly needed to help them deliver high quality, cutting-edge instruction to their students. However, with very little money coming from the Georgia Department of Education to support professional learning, providing a day per grade level is not achievable within the school system’s tight budget.
Realizing the benefits of professional learning for teachers, which ultimately impacts the education of students, the Fayette County Education Foundation has donated over $4,000 to fund the first grade-level professional learning day for third grade teachers in October.
Grade-level training allows teachers to learn about researched-based, cutting-edge best practices, and gives them time to collaborate and work together. They share ideas, units, teaching strategies, and work more effectively and efficiently. When teachers meet face-to-face with others teaching the same subjects and grade levels, they form professional learning communities and continue the conversations when they return to their respective buildings.
With the community’s help, the foundation’s goal is to provide at least one more grade-level professional learning day this year. Donations to “Educator A.M.P.L.I.F.Y.” are needed to help make this a reality. Please contact Melinda Berry-Dreisbach, the foundation’s treasurer and public information specialist for Fayette County Public Schools, for donation information: berrydreisbach.melinda@mail.fcboe.org or 770-460-3535.
The Fayette County Education Foundation is a private, nonprofit organization established to provide support to the children and educators of the Fayette County Public School System. Tax-exempt donations from individuals, corporations and foundations are used solely for the benefit of the school system’s students and teachers.
