DALLAS, July 18, 2019 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- NFTE (Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship) announced today that Joan McCoo of Bryan Adams High School in Dallas, TX, won the top prize in the Model Teacher Challenge, a highly competitive challenge issued to educators across the U.S. who teach NFTE's entrepreneurship courses to middle school and high school students. The winner was announced at NFTE's Entrepreneurial Teacher Summit, held July 15-18 in Chicago, IL. McCoo received a $15,000 cash prize for herself and also earned a $5,000 prize for her school, to fund entrepreneurship education resources.
For more than 30 years, NFTE's award-winning, project-based curriculum has been activating the entrepreneurial mindset in youth from underserved communities across the country. NFTE's Model Teacher Challenge is a national competition that seeks to identify those NFTE educators performing at the highest levels, promoting consistent student achievement, exhibiting effective classroom management strategies and sound pedagogical content knowledge, modeling data-driven decision-making, and demonstrating a belief that growing a student's entrepreneurial mindset can change their life trajectory.
"I have truly loved being a NFTE teacher for the past 12 years, and it's an honor to be recognized by NFTE as a model teacher. I am excited about traveling to other NFTE schools and sharing best practices with my peers. It's vitally important to equip classroom teachers with the tools they need to inspire and instill the entrepreneurial mindset in their students," said McCoo. "Every child has an entrepreneur inside of them just waiting to be brought out. That is why I'm so passionate about teaching the NFTE curriculum in my classroom. I've witnessed the impact it has on my students, helping them succeed in school and in life."
The Model Teacher Challenge was created specifically to encourage the development of exemplary teachers through creative incentives and opportunities for professional development and collaboration. The current competition cycle began last fall, at the start of the 2018-2019 school year, then the field was winnowed down through a series of regional and national competition rounds over the past seven months.
"Joan is an outstanding educator and we're delighted to recognize her achievements. She not only has a deep understanding of our entrepreneurship curriculum, but also a deep commitment to helping students succeed," says Jim Johnston, Interim Chief Executive Officer of NFTE. "She exemplifies the best of our NFTE Teacher Corps."
The 2018 Model Teacher Challenge winner, Ray Parris of Hialeah Miami Lakes Technical Magnet School in Hialeah, FL, congratulated McCoo as well. "This past year has been exciting for me, as the 2018 winner. I had opportunities to meet NFTE teachers from across the country and talk shop about the most effective ways to help young people develop an entrepreneurial mindset. I know Joan will draw on her own special expertise in the classroom to advance that conversation in the year to come. She'll be a real inspiration to other teachers and continue to make moves."
The Model Teacher Challenge is made possible through the support of the Diana Davis Spencer Foundation, a private philanthropy that promotes entrepreneurship education as a driver of economic growth and innovation.
About NFTE
NFTE is the leading educational nonprofit focused on teaching startup skills and activating the entrepreneurial mindset in young people from under-resourced communities. Research shows the entrepreneurial mindset—skills including problem-solving, adaptability, initiative, and self-reliance—leads to lifelong success. Equipped with the business and academic skills NFTE teaches and empowered by the entrepreneurial mindset, NFTE alumni are prepared to thrive. NFTE works with schools and community partners across the country through its nationwide network of program offices. Alliances with global youth development organizations bring NFTE programs to additional students internationally. NFTE reaches more than 100,000 young people annually and has served well over a million students since its founding. Learn more at http://www.nfte.com.
SOURCE NFTE (Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship)
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