Teachers’ Corner

Letter from the Chairman

Dear Teachers,

During my time as a Board Member with Chesapeake Public Schools Education Foundation (CPSEF), I have watched as you bring energy every day. You constantly inspire me with your compassion, your commitment, your tenacity and most of all your heart. I have visited your respective schools and observed that there is no obstacle that our teachers wouldn’t go through to reach each of their children wherever they are in their respective lives – physically, mentally and/or socially. I’ve witnessed you create learning experiences from random questions and discoveries. You understand the power of creativity, wonder and laughter. You allow your children the opportunity to be understood and valued. Even on the toughest days, every child in your class has felt that compassion. They have felt you care. They have felt that you have been there for them.

It is that inspiration that motivates me daily in my role as chair. How can we be there for you? How can we impact 5,000 teachers? 40,000 students? How can we raise the bar just a little bit higher? CPSEF promises to do our part to be there for each of you just as you are there for those students. All of our board members are committed to setting the standard in what a foundation provides to teachers and students. We will be energetic in the community to encourage engagement. We hope that our energy is contagious and that it spreads throughout our community. Every business can play a role whether it is with their time, their knowledge or their financial support. We will work tirelessly to spread our message and find those that want to be involved.

As part of our plan to spread the message, you may have noticed our new website, logo as well as an increased social media presence as part of a rebranding effort. We felt that it was important to have a platform to specifically identify who we are in order for the community to understand what our purpose is. We have concentrated our efforts to enhance and expand learning through school enrichment activities in areas such as STEM, Literacy, Arts, Social Studies and Technology. We felt this rebrand was critical to the success of telling our story of fostering community partnerships while supporting educational opportunities.

We encourage you to be a part of this story by sharing your excitement and your successes on social media. We read them and we thrive off them. When teachers post “I AM READY TO JUMP UP AND DOWN! So inspiring! Thank you!!!!!” and “He was amazing! Thank you for affording us the opportunity to hear him speak.”, we know that we are making a difference. The community sees the impact we can have for our teachers and students and the momentum grows.

However, the best plans are just words without action. This past year we have put our words into action. We implemented the CPSEF Speaker Series where we brought in individuals such as Ron Clark, Dr. Richard Milner and George Couros to speak about topics such as equity and innovation. We increased our Teacher Grants from $1,000 to $1,500 per recipient. In partnership with the Cuddyer family, every student at Sparrow Road received backpacks filled with school supplies. This is the 4th year of this partnership. However, we didn’t rest there. How can we raise the bar? How can we be there for our teachers as they are for their students? We recently stepped up our contributions for 2020-21 and made a $100,000 donation to provide internet service to families experiencing economic hardships.

You inspire us and I speak for every board member when I say thank you for letting us serve you. We won’t let you down!

Sincerely,

Chris Crouch
Chairman