Educate Texas, an initiative of Communities Foundation of Texas, announces the first recipients of the Texas Campus Innovators Awards during the Cotton Bowl Foundation-College Football Playoff Foundation BIG DAY Presentation. The event was held on the campus of University of North Texas at Dallas in September, as part of the CFP Foundation’s Extra Yard for Teachers Week. Educate Texas granted four awards which resulted in a total investment of $120,000 to high-performing Texas teachers at the following schools:

• G.W. Truett Elementary, Advancing Campus Excellence Award Winner
• Marine Creek Collegiate High School, Early College High School Campus Award Winner
• Rowlett High School P-TECH, Pathways in Technology Early College High School Campus Award Winner—Presented by Texas Mutual

• Young Women’s Leadership Academy, Texas Science Technology Engineering and Math Award Winner.

The Texas Campus Innovators Awards were established to recognize excellence in teaching among Educate Texas’ network of campus partners for each school model. Each awardee received $30,000 to invest in needed resources for classrooms, teacher recruitment and retention, professional development, and teacher incentives.

“I would like to give a special thanks to all the teachers across the state who are helping to transform the lives of our students and our communities,” said Chris Coxon, managing director of Programs at CFT’s Educate Texas. “We wish you continued success. Please know that we see and support the work that you do.”

Educate Texas works directly with more than 560 schools throughout the state to implement data-driven strategies to improve the quality of teaching and to support students on a path to success in the workforce. The campus partners fall into four categories for award consideration based on these types of innovative school model implementations: Accelerating Campus Excellence (ACE), Early College High School (ECHS), Pathways in Technology Early College High Schools (P-TECH), Texas Science—Presented by Texas Mutual, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (T-STEM).

“When big people recognize the little people it’s really like, okay, I’m supposed to be here,” said Kamil Simms, a math teacher from Elsie Robertson Middle School. “This is what I’m supposed to be doing, and not necessarily for the praise and accolades, but just reassuring that you’re on the right path and what you do matters.”

Teachers are the most important school-based factor in student success. A workforce of qualified teachers relies on a comprehensive professional pipeline to prepare, support, and retain educators. The Texas Campus Innovator Award aids in that effort and was made possible by the following partners – Cotton Bowl Foundation, College Football Playoff Foundation, and Texas Mutual.

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