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By ALEC ETHEREDGE | Publisher

One month after sharing more than $38,000 with local teachers across the Shelby County School system, the Shelby County Schools Education Foundation was back at it, raising even more money to pour into local schools.

The Education Foundation is an extension of Shelby County Schools meant to enhance the opportunities available to teachers and students across the county.

That was on display with the $38,585 in Inspire Journey Grants that were distributed to teachers across the county in early March.

Program Executive Director Bethany Ivey and others from the board of directors traveled from school to school over several days to deliver checks to teachers, who met them with faces of surprise and appreciation.

“Grant week is my favorite week of the year,” Ivey said. “Seeing the reactions on our educators’ faces when we surprise them with an Inspire the Journey Grant says everything about the impact the Education Foundation has. Being able to provide funding for innovative solutions to meet the needs of our students’ academic success is at the heart of what the foundation does.”

Ivey and her team handed out 32 total grants, distributing all of them to schools, teachers and administrators across the county.

The foundation raises a lot of its money through the annual Taste of Shelby County event, while they also host the annual Showcase of Schools event and Teacher of the Year celebration.

In addition to the success of this year’s grants, however, the Education Foundation also started a new trend known as “Give Me Five,” challenging anyone to donate $5 on April 5.

while their drive to support the schools remained on display with an extra $6,519.05 raised during a new program known as “Give Me Five.”

“Give Me Five was born out of the idea that a small thing can lead to big impact when we unite together,” Ivey said. “We set a goal of $5,000 and were so excited to reach it before lunch.”

They ultimately ended up raising $6,519.05 during the fundraiser, which will be poured back into the schools to help invest in the classroom.

The fundraiser paired with strong marketing thanks to a video featuring local students and several different posts across social media shared by schools and the school system leading up to the event.

For more information on the Shelby County Schools Education Foundation, visit Shelbyedfoundation.shelbyed.org.