A record $200,000 in grants was awarded to Virginia Beach City Public Schools (VBCPS) teachers by the Virginia Beach Education Foundation (VBEF) at their annual Teacher Grants Improve Futures (TGIF) Celebration held Dec. 12. The amount, which funds 79 projects, surpassed last year's awards of $150,000, which was donated by sponsors and raised through VBEF fundraising events.

"I want to thank our amazing Virginia Beach Education Foundation and our generous grant underwriters for allowing our teachers and students to pursue the wondrous possibilities that come with big dreams and big ideas," said Superintendent Dr. Aaron Spence. "These community partnerships help our young learners walk off that graduation stage and onto whatever path they chose."

The TGIF event is for teachers, school administrators and grant funders to meet and celebrate the 65 schoolwide grants and 12 innovative learning projects funded through VBEF endeavors. Now in its 26th year, the foundation also launched a School + Community Super Grants program, which awarded up to $20,000 to two schools working together with a community partner.

At the event, the foundation's 2019 Commemorative Print "Explore the Wonder of Our World" by Marie Culver, one of 14 VBCPS educators who submitted original entries, was also announced. That print will be available for online purchase to further raise funds for next year's grants. Other upcoming fundraisers organized by the foundation are a Pearls of Wisdom oyster roast, the Teacher of the Year Dinner and a golf tournament.

VBEF grant funding has grown exponentially from $12,500 when founded in 1991. To learn more about this year's grant projects as well as other VBEF programs such as Beach Bags, which provides shelf-stable food to needy families, or VA Star, which provides refurbished computers to underprivileged families, visit the foundation's website at vbef.org.

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Department of Communications and Community Engagement, [email protected]

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