Media Contacts:
ATLANTA PUBLIC SCHOOLS
Office of Communications and Public Engagement
130 Trinity Avenue SW | Atlanta, Georgia 30303
Seth Coleman, Director of Media
404-802-2891, office
404-345-8630, cell
seth.coleman@atlanta.k12.ga.us
Jasmine Mosley, Interim Media Relations Manager
404-802-2888, office
404-937-0473, cell
jasmine.mosley@atlanta.k12.ga.us
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 16, 2023
Peach Bowl, Inc. and the College Football Playoff Foundation Partner to Fund Program for Atlanta Public Schools Special Education Teachers
Grant funds will be used for Goalbook Toolkit, a program to help teachers
create individual education plans and chart student growth.
ATLANTA — Peach Bowl, Inc. and the College Football Playoff (CFP) Foundation together have provided Atlanta Public Schools (APS) with a $200,000 grant the district will use to bolster its commitment to the success of its students. APS will utilize the funding to purchase the Goalbook Toolkit, an intuitive, easy-to-use online tool that will help educators working with specialized student populations support and foster their growth.
The online resource will provide significant assistance for APS educators, giving them the ability to:
- Provide assessments and performance tools to help identify areas of regression and urgent needs for skill recoupment, including in essential standard areas.
- Support the development of skills-based and standards-aligned Individual Education Plan (IEP) goals that support both recoupment and growth.
- Deliver classroom-ready resources and strategies that support planning and the delivery of specially designed instruction in both classroom and remote environments.
The Goalbook Toolkit will be activated to begin helping 336 APS special education teachers this academic semester.
This new funding initiative adds to the Peach Bowl’s legacy of support for Atlanta Public Schools. Peach Bowl, Inc. currently operates an endowed scholarship program called the John Lewis Legacy of Courage Scholarship that prioritizes awarding scholarship dollars to students graduating from Title 1 APS high schools. The program is endowed with $8.5 million in donations and provides scholarships each year. This academic year, 39 students received $303,283 in scholarships.
“We remain dedicated to the short and long-term success of Atlanta Public Schools and are always looking for significant and meaningful ways to help APS – whatever the need may be,” said Gary Stokan, Peach Bowl, Inc. CEO, and president. “Since 2007, we have provided APS more than $3.5 million in donations for education projects, and we will continue to partner with APS going forward.”
Peach Bowl, Inc. also manages an academic mentoring program in all 11 APS high schools that provides student-athletes with an academic coach who works to help improve student grade point averages, prepare for SAT and ACT tests, and apply and transition to college.
Previously, Peach Bowl, Inc. and the CFP Foundation partnered to fund a major literacy initiative for kindergarten through fifth-grade students to improve early childhood literacy rates. The $2 million Orton-Gillingham program, implemented districtwide, provided 1,500 teachers with phonics-based reading instruction methods to help improve reading proficiency.
“We’re thrilled to be able to continue supporting teachers in Atlanta Public Schools in partnership with the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl,” said CFP Foundation Executive Director Britton Banowsky. “Providing resources and tools for teachers is a top priority which helps them better educate our children. APS has shown significant improvement over the last few years, and we are pleased to be part of that positive momentum.”
“We are honored that once again the Peach Bowl and College Football Playoff Foundation have shown their commitment to Atlanta Public Schools and our students and educators,” said APS Superintendent Dr. Lisa Herring. “We value this partnership more than words can express. We look forward to even more collaborative efforts in the name of ensuring that our district continues to provide all of our students with a quality education that will be the foundation for a life filled with boundless choices and opportunities.”
@CFAPeachBowl
About Atlanta Public Schools:
Atlanta Public Schools is one of the largest school districts in the state of Georgia, serving approximately 52,000 students across 87 schools. The District is organized into nine K-12 clusters with 58 neighborhood schools, six partner schools, 18 charter schools, two citywide single-gender academies and three alternative programs. For more information, visit www.atlantapublicschools.us, follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/AtlantaPublicSchools/ and on Twitter and Instagram @apsupdate.
About Peach Bowl, Inc.:
Peach Bowl, Inc. is a 501(c)3 organization that operates the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game, the Southern Company Peach Bowl Challenge charity golf tournament, and manages The Dodd Trophy national coach of the year award. It is the ninth-oldest bowl game in the country and is recognized as college football’s most charitable bowl organization, having donated more than $60.9 million to organizations in need since 2002.
Peach Bowl, Inc Events:
The Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl is one of the New Year’s Six bowls selected to host the College Football Playoff including a CFP Semifinal every third year and top-ranked teams from around the country in the other two years of each three-year cycle. Over its 54 years, the game has drawn 3.2 million fans in attendance, a total television audience of 232 million viewers on ESPN, delivered $233.1 million in team payouts, and has created $840 million in direct economic impact for Atlanta and Georgia.
Our Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game is the nation’s longest-running kickoff game and has reshaped the opening weekend in college football. Over 19 games since 2008, the game has regularly hosted the nation’s top teams and has drawn 1.26 million fans, 98.8 million television viewers, distributed $114 million in team payouts and created an additional $549.3 million in economic impact.
The Southern Company Peach Bowl Challenge is the nation’s premier charity golf tournament featuring top current and former college football coaches. Hosted at the beautiful Reynolds Lake Oconee resort outside Atlanta each spring, the event has generated $9 million for the various foundations and charities supported by its coaches.
The Dodd Trophy Presented by PNC is college football’s most coveted national coaching award. Named for legendary Georgia Tech coach Bobby Dodd, The Dodd Trophy annually honors the FBS football coach whose program represents three pillars of success: scholarship, leadership and integrity.
