Teachers, do your thing: Flagler County Education Foundation distributes grant dollars

A little money can sometimes make ideas become reality. That’s the hope of the Flagler County Education Foundation, which, thanks to funding from Beaver Toyota, distributed $60,000 in grants to teachers in 22 classrooms on Oct. 28-29.

“When you look at the innovation in Flagler Schools, this is one of the leading things that make it happen,” said Joe Rizzo, executive director of the Ed Foundation. “This pushes exceptional teachers over the top.”

The program has also been implemented in years past, with a cap of about $2,500 per grant for about 45 teachers. This year, the cap was increased, and fewer teachers received grants. One of the requirements this year was that the teacher had to demonstrate that the grant project could be carried through whether the pandemic caused another school closure or not.

Among the teachers to get the most money was Cathie Zenella, at Bunnell Elementary School. Her excitement upon receiving the oversized check from the Beaver Toyota mascot at the Ed Foundation staff was priceless, Rizzo said.

“You can’t hide the excitement,” he said.