On Thursday, February 2nd, more than 150 stakeholders for education in Baldwin County gathered at Oak Hollow Farm in Fairhope for ‘An Evening of Education Champions.’

The inaugural event served as the premier fundraiser for the Baldwin Proud Future Teacher Scholarship. The event included a silent and live auction, a presentation on the scholarship program and live music from singer songwriter, and Baldwin County elementary teacher, Elise Taylor.

“The level of support received for this first-time event was far beyond our expectations, raising more than double what we anticipated,” said Terry Burkle, Executive Director for the Baldwin County Education Coalition. “We are extremely grateful and look forward to growing the event in 2024.”

The mission of the Baldwin Proud Future Teacher Scholarship Program is to recognize high school seniors from each feeder pattern and former Baldwin County Public School graduates working toward a degree in Education. The Josh Hall Memorial Scholarship recognizes employees and children of employees who want to obtain their teaching certification.

“I would like to express my gratitude to the Baldwin County Education Coalition for their partnership in hosting our night for “Education Champions” benefiting the Baldwin Proud Future Teacher Scholarship fund and Josh Hall Memorial Scholarship fund,” said Tiffany Wilson, Human Resources Director for Baldwin County Public Schools.

The goals of the scholarship include promoting the field of education and growing educators from local Baldwin County students, employees and communities. In 2022, the Baldwin Proud Future Teacher Scholarship awarded over $16,000 in renewable scholarships.

“Thank you to our business partners whose generosity will allow us to continue to recognize and support our graduating seniors pursuing an education degree along with our employees or our employees’ children who are working to obtain teacher certification or who are obtaining an advanced education degree,” Wilson said. “With these partnerships we can continue to bring only the best to Baldwin County Public Schools!”

Thanks to generous donors, sponsors and auction participation during the event, the 2023 Evening of Education Champions raised more than $23,000 to support the Baldwin Proud Future Teacher Scholarship fund. In order to maintain current scholarship program levels, the Baldwin Proud Future Teacher Scholarship initiative must receive approximately $48,000 in donations each year. The hope is to increase current scholarship awards and grow the program year after year.

“Wow, what a great night! This is the first time we’ve done a fundraiser like this and the success of it has blown me away,” said Eddie Tyler, Superintendent of Baldwin County Public Schools.  

The Baldwin Proud Future Teacher Scholarship would not be possible without the contributions of Education Champions in our community. It also takes drive and persistence from those working within.

 “Our Human Resources Department put an emphasis on the nation-wide teacher shortage several years ago and since that time the ideas and the initiatives that have come from this group show that they truly care about the future of education in Baldwin County,” said Tyler. “Dr. Tiffany Wilson and her team continue to think “outside the box” and it’s paying off. We want the best teachers here in Baldwin County and even though there may be a shortage across the country, we continue to have more and more candidates flock to Baldwin County for a variety of reasons including the recruitment efforts of our employees. We hope to make this an annual event and I can’t wait to see what next year brings.”

If you would like to become an Education Champion visit https://linktr.ee/betterbaldwin and donate today!

The Baldwin County Education Coalition serves as the fiscal manager of the scholarship funds. The Baldwin County Education Coalition is a charitable non-profit organization as described in Section 501 (c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code; EIN #45-3122332. Your donation is tax deductible to the fullest extent of the law.