ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) – Ahead of the College Football Playoff National Championship, some Atlanta teachers are getting a special thank you in the form of $100,000.
The College Football Playoff Foundation selected 20 teachers who have been in the classroom for over 10 years to award them $5,000 each. The first five were surprised in their classrooms Wednesday morning.
Cathy Smothers was surprised with her class at YMCA Chattahoochee Head Start Academy.
“I’m just excited, it’s truly an honor to basically receive this award so thank you for the recognition,” she said.
She said she’s been teaching for 21 years and wouldn’t want to be doing anything else.
“It’s a challenge, but I love it,” Smothers said.
The College Football Playoff Foundation partnered with local organizations like United Way of Greater Atlanta, Georgia Early Education Alliance for Ready Students (GEEARS) and Promise All Atlanta Children Thrive (PAACT). CFP Foundation Executive Director Britton Banowsky said their focus is specifically on pre-k teachers.
“They just don’t get the recognition they deserve. The amount of impact that they’re making in the communities with our young boys and girls is just phenomenal,” he said.
He said while they’re excited about the game, they want to leave something impactful behind.
“The game is the game, and the game is going to be amazing, but for us to have a football game and then leave and not leave something lasting in terms of our legacy of commitment to the community would be wrong. So, we’re all in,” said Banowsky.
Concetta Reeves with Fun to Learn Child Care and Development Center, Inc. was also one of the five teachers surprised Wednesday.
“I’ve been through a lot and I still manage to come and be with the kids because they still need me,” she said.
Only five teachers were surprised with $5,000 Wednesday, but on Saturday, other Atlanta teachers will receive their awards, they just don’t know it yet. The Extra Yard for Teachers Summit will take place at the Rialto Center for the Arts at Georgia State University from 3 to 7 p.m.
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