Overview
The Los Angeles College Football National Championship Host Committee, ChampionLA supporters, and College Football Playoff Foundation with support from the Play Equity Fund, are launching Champions Educate Here to identify and celebrate educators - physical education teachers, elementary and special education teachers, coaches, and afterschool providers staff - who are harnessing this unique power of sport, play and movement to support the mental health and social emotional needs of students.
With this incredible challenge and the selection of Los Angeles to host the 2023 College Football National Playoff Championship at SoFi Stadium in January 2023, there has never been a better time to shine the light and support the needs of our teachers and students. There are no "best practices" or scalable models yet on how to support our student learning and mental wellness in the post-pandemic transition, but sport, play, and movement are key ingredients to our recovery.
Celebrating and Supporting 46 Champions
Through a selection process, we will identify and celebrate up to 46 educators who have been using return to play as a context for recovery from the pandemic finding fun and joyful ways in which to reconnect youth with themselves, their peers, their school, and their academics.
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Each selected educator is eligible to receive an award of at least $5,000 and up to $20,000 to be used to support and expand their work within the classroom or school context. Funding support may include play equipment, SEL resources, uniforms, field trips, coaching education, student hangout center / wellness spaces, and/or small infrastructure projects
(project may not exceed the $20,000 award)
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We will produce a video for 23 Champions Educate Here participants* with the most impactful stories to shine a light on these educators, highlight the impact of their programs and share techniques that can be used by other educators. Each participant will need to make themselves available for one half-day shoot to capture the necessary content. Videos will be shared across the CFPNC media platforms and LASEC and LA Host Committee social platforms.
(*Videos would be for those educators currently using sports, play and movement programs)
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We would select a smaller number of educators/projects to host press events and/or 'ribbon' cutting events to bring shine to the most inspired/impactful initiatives.
Preliminary Nomination/Submission Criteria:
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A focus on innovative, inspiring, and impactful lesson plans, programs or initiatives in sport, play, and/or movement that can support student physical and mental health needs, expand Social Emotional Learning competencies, and improve outcomes for students in the classroom.
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Nominations are limited to educators (including coaches) at high need schools in Los Angeles County:
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Public schools
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Parochial schools
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Afterschool service providers affiliated with and serving Los Angeles County school districts
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Educators can be nominated in the following categories: elementary teachers, special education teachers, physical education teachers, coaches and afterschool providers staff.
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Each nomination will include a short questionnaire/nomination form and require a phone video describing the program and/or educator and why they fit the criteria. Videos are to be no longer than 2 minutes in length.
List of Frequently Asked Questions