A Brooklyn teacher was honored with a $5,000 grant from the College Football Players Foundation program Extra Yard for Teachers for going above and beyond for her students during the coronavirus pandemic.
Tiayana Logan, a 7th grade math teacher at the Launch Expeditionary Learning Charter School in Crown Heights, was nominated by one of her students who called her a teacher that was an "inspiration to this day."
"Ms. Logan is unique and everyone loves her and appreciates the love and energy she pours out into her community and students," Kianni Cattouse, who nominated Logan, said.
"When any student comes across her path she sees the hope and self motivation that they have and pushes them to believe it for themselves. She's honest, pure and genuine."
Logan said the grant was "well deserved" and that she was happy to see she was leaving an impression on her students. "It's a refreshing feeling and it shows that whatever I do, it leaves an imprint on someone's heart, mind, or memory," Logan said. "I was definitely shocked that members of my community chose to nominate me for such an exceptional award."
The Extra Yard for Teachers grant was set up through a partnership between the College Football Players Foundation and Eckrich meat company, which donated $50,000 to teachers who were nominated through Eckrich's Instagram page. Nominated teachers were selected at random and allowed to either fund their own or existing projects.
Most of the grant money is going directly to the charter school, but Logan has been helping organize an annual Back to School Bookbag Giveaway, which will be held on August 15th, at P.S. 309 on the corner of Madison Street and Patchen Avenue in Bedford-Stuyvesant.
Logan said: "It definitely was refreshing to win and know that students that I have taught and what students I currently teach look at me and see someone that they know they can rely on or that is always putting them first."
Logan said that COVID-19 didn't overly affect her teaching, and that was primarily due to preparation. "Always be prepared. Always have resources to support students and just always make sure that you are going above and beyond, like I think going the extra mile all the time, especially through COVID," she said.
"I was able to see a hundred percent engagement from my students and my family and they knew that when I was teaching, I needed to be present...being prepared is a big key in education."
College Football Players Foundation, whose main project is Extra Yard for Teachers, stated the program is "dedicated to elevating the teaching profession by inspiring and empowering teachers in four focus areas: resources, recognition, recruitment and professional development."
