Teachers Lead Philly Wins $5,000 SEED 2.0 Grant; Plans to Improve Online Platform and Secure 501(c)(3) Status
Attendees from SEED 2.0 in Philadelphia’s City Council Chambers (Photo via Ben Stango).
SEED 2.0, the sequel to its March predecessor, took place Wednesday night at City Hall, with 116 attendees deciding on the winner.
“Last night’s SEED was a great success,” said Rachel Meadows, Policy and Research Analyst for Councilman Bill Green. “For this SEED, we decided to change it up a bit.”
This time, a topic was selected for the crowd-sourced and crowd-funded event, honing in on more than just innovation within Philadelphia education. Alongside PhillyCORE Leaders — a coalition working together for the betterment of Philadelphia schools — Councilman Bill Green and a team of organizers focused on a theme of “technology in the classroom.” The event received 15 applicants, which were narrowed down to 5 finalists.
Each finalist was given three minutes to make their pitch about who they are, what they’re doing, and how the $5,000 prize would help them.
“We also decided that after each pitch, we’d have a panel of judges ask questions,” said Meadows, who added that the panel also made suggestions and critiques.
Judges included Helen Cunningham, Executive Director of The Samuel S. Fels Fund; Donna Frisby-Greenwood, Program Director at The Knight Foundation; Donna Runner; Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum at the School District of Philadelphia; Mary Wang; Teacher at Academy at Palumbo High School; Alex Hillman, Founder of Indy Hall; and Councilman Bill Green.
Audience members — who paid $25 to attend the event — and judges voted between the following organizations.
Kinvolved
A social enterprise dedicated to improving student classroom attendance and creating a culture of parent engagement in the school community through analysis and initiatives to improve attendance, particularly in underserved communities.
The School Collective
A development network focused on improving teacher quality through planning and observation tools. Helping schools identify teaching trends and provide the necessary professional development materials on a collaborative platform.
Slate
An open-source foundation for schools to build their own online environment. The platform has been built over a long-term collaboration between Philadelphia’s Science Leadership Academy and Jarvus Innovations.
Teachers Lead Philly
The city needs more leaders who are practicing teachers, and teachers need more opportunities to connect and lead. Teachers Lead Philly will meet both these needs through the creation of an in-person and virtual network of teacher leaders.
Temple’s MESA Program
Temple’s Math, Engineering, and Science Achievement program launched the Computer Science & Technology Entrepreneurship program for hands-on technical training and rigor in JAVA with workshops.
At the end of the evening, Teachers Lead Philly took home the $5,000 win. The group plans to use the money to improve their online platform, hold future “offline” events, and secure 501(c)(3) status. Corporate sponsors PECO and Independence Blue Crossed were also on hand to raise additional funding for the overall cost of the event.
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