Media Advisory
Kaylen Tucker, NAESP
703-518-6257
ktucker@naesp.org
School principals win grants designed to strengthen community and global awareness.
Alexandria, VA—November 9, 2010—The National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP) Foundation and MetLIfe Foundation recently announced the recipients of grants in the 2010 Sharing the Dream initiative to help principals build closer relationships between schools and communities. Twenty-five principals from across the nation have each been awarded $5,000 for their schools to strengthen parent and community engagement and to create opportunities for students to gain the global perspective necessary for success in the 21st century.
To view the list of 2010 Sharing the Dream grant recipients, visit www.naesp.org/2010-sharing-dream-recipients.
New for 2010-2011, Sharing the Dream grantees are defining community in broader ways that can build global awareness. The schools are connecting students from different cultures; engaging diverse families; forging lasting partnerships with immigrant communities, arts organizations, and businesses; exploring world languages; and addressing “global competence” in teaching and learning.
“Sharing the Dream grants encourage the innovative development of learning communities that is the hallmark of effective principal leadership,” said NAESP Foundation CEO Ernest J. Mannino. “We are excited to be able to directly impact the important work that principals do to enhance communication and build capacity within school communities.”
This year’s grant-winning principals were carefully selected for the distinctive, but practical, programs they created to improve communications within their communities and better prepare students to succeed in a global environment. Recipient schools represent rural, urban, small, and large, elementary and middle schools. Awards were based on need, the creativity of the plan, and the commitment to program evaluation.
“We are pleased to join with NAESP in encouraging school leaders committed to engaging their communities and in supporting collaboration to increase student knowledge of the world,” said Dennis White, president and CEO of MetLife Foundation.
The Sharing the Dream initiative began in 2003 when the annual MetLife Survey of the American Teacher revealed a significant disconnect between the ways in which principals and other members of the school community view their schools and relationships with one another. The new emphasis on community and global connections grows out of findings from the most recent MetLife Survey of the American Teacher: Collaborating for Student Success:
- Most teachers (71%) and even more principals (75%) believe that preparing students for competition and collaboration in a global economy is very important for improving student achievement.
- Large numbers of teachers (80%) and principals (80%) also believe that connecting classroom instruction to the real world would have a major impact on student achievement.
In addition to the grant awards, winners are receiving copies of Ready for the World: Preparing Elementary Students for the Global Age, a publication of the Asia Society’s Partnership for Global Learning, also supported by MetLife Foundation.
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Established in 1921, the National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP) serves elementary and middle school principals in the United States, Canada, and overseas. NAESP leads in the advocacy and support for elementary and middle-level principals and other education leaders in their commitment to all children. The NAESP Foundation, founded in 1982, is the charitable arm of NAESP and is dedicated to securing and stewarding private gifts and grants that benefit the National Association of Elementary School Principals. www.naesp.org
MetLife Foundation supports education, health, civic and cultural organizations. In education, it seeks to strengthen public schools through effective teaching and leadership, and to prepare students for access to and success in higher education, particularly the crucial first year. The Foundation’s grantmaking is informed by findings from the annual MetLife Survey of the American Teacher. www.metlife.org