Education Foundation of Eagle County: Helping teachers and students succeed

While school may be out for summer, the Education Foundation of Eagle County, E•ƒ(ec), is busy working on solutions so that every teacher, school, family, and student can thrive in our community.

Our approach is to support public education in Eagle County through the intellectual and emotional needs of students, especially focusing on in-school programs for enrichment, mental health support, and efforts to attract and retain top teacher talent.

We know that the intellectual and emotional needs of students are directly connected to teachers. It is impossible to overstate the importance of teachers, and studies show they are the most significant in-school factor affecting student success. On average, a student spends over 1,000 hours each year in school. Yet despite all of this knowledge and impact, Colorado educators are the least competitively paid teachers in the nation. That’s right — dead last!

Throughout COVID-19, teachers were on the frontline of the pandemic’s impact on students’ mental health and academic needs. Our community continues to face significant challenges in attracting and retaining teachers, and preexisting shortages have been exacerbated by COVID-19. These shortages have a direct impact on students, disproportionately impacting students of color and low-income backgrounds.

The resilience of our communities and our organization through the pandemic can largely be attributed to Vail Resorts’ financial commitment to the Education Foundation of Eagle County. Thanks to the support of Vail Resorts Epic Promise, we are  able to deliver critical programs empowering public school educators including:

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Effective Mental Health

The program is designed to provide time, self-care tools, “brain breaks,” and increase morale by expressing gratitude. One of the highlights is lunch and recess duty coverage, empowering educators with the opportunity for rest and reprieve.

Classroom grants

This grant program is an effective approach to empowering ECS teachers in their endeavor to educate with an innovative curriculum that ensures successful outcomes for every student, no matter their social or economic status.

Apple Awards

This monthly program recognizes one teacher throughout the Eagle County School District who has gone above and beyond in the classroom to positively impact students and rewards them with $500. By engaging students, parents, colleagues, and the community we celebrate excellence in the classroom.

Distinguished Teacher Scholarship Awards

The scholarship awards promote excellence in teaching by providing educators financial support to advance their professional knowledge and skills in specific educational areas and obtain advanced degrees or certifications.

As a result of Vail Resorts’ commitment to public education and generosity, EFEC received countless thank you notes from educators for efforts we were able to execute around teacher mental health, recognition, and retention. As one teacher shared: “Thank you EFEC! This has been the most challenging year of my career, and I’ve been at it since 1992, so your support is most appreciated! I’m grateful that ECS has offered in-person learning all year, but it’s been tough and the acknowledgement and support from EFEC matters more than ever.”

What we know is this is just one teacher, one classroom, one school. These stories of impact run throughout our entire community. With support from Vail Resorts, the Education Foundation of Eagle is able to support the over 1,200 Eagle County Schools’ staff and more than 3,500 local families and their 6,500 children.

The Education Foundation of Eagle County is just one of the many organizations benefiting from the investment in the individuals and families who make this the place we are lucky to call home. Each year, Vail Resorts invests $3.5 million in local Eagle County nonprofits and works tirelessly to ensure that our life-changing and life-saving services are available to those who need them most. Additionally, Vail Resorts provides $1.7 million in grants to employees through emergency financial grants and scholarships, allowing these community members to overcome substantial personal obstacles.

Vail Resorts’ investments, like public education, create a rippling impact across our community beyond measure.

You can learn more about education in our community and how you can help by visiting EFEC.org.