Arizona Educational Foundation Inc.

Filing Period

Oct 1, 2010 to Sep 30, 2011

Signed

Jun 5, 2012

Return Version

2010v3.7

Gross Receipts

$304,204

Mission

Major Activities

Activity 2

The aef arizona state spelling bee is administered by aef to determine arizona's representative in the annual scripps national spelling bee in washington d.c. Spelling bees give students from public, private, charter and home schools an opportunity to utilize their spelling and phonetic skills in a competitive environment and a chance to participate in higher level bees. Spelling bees give students who might not excel in more traditional competitive environments such as sports an opportunity to shine. Tens of thousands of students statewide in kindergarten through 8th grade compete in classroom, school, district, and county bees to qualify as one of 27 finalists in the state bee. Aef works year-round with school, district, regional and county coordinators across arizona to ensure consistency and fairness in determining which 27 spellers will vie for the title of arizona state spelling bee champion. Aef's state spelling bee is televised on public television stations throughout arizona. The winner and chaperone receive an all-expenses paid trip to washington d.c., for the scripps national spelling bee in late spring.

Activity 3

Now in its 28th year, the aef teacher of the year program annually selects arizona's teacher of the year and recognizes nine additional prek-12 public school teachers, all of whom are exceptionally skilled, talented and dedicated. Teacher of the year nominees are public school teachers from across arizona who have gained the respect and admiration of students, parents, and co-workers. They play an active and useful role in their communities as well as their schools, distinguishing themselves as leaders. They have a superior ability to help all students achieve. The winner becomes arizona's candidate for national teacher of the year and receives 15,000, a laptop computer, a smart board and a full scholarship from argosy university/phoenix to pursue a graduate degree in education. As teacher of the year, he or she travels to washington d.c. To meet the president of the united states and attends international space camp in huntsville, al, with state teachers of the year from across the nation. The next four runners-up, called "ambassadors for excellence," receive 5,000 and a laptop computer; the other five semi-finalists receive 1,000. The teacher of the year and ambassadors undergo professional speech training, giving them the tools necessary to advocate effectively for excellence in education and act as spokespersons for the teaching profession. Combined, the arizona teacher of the year and ambassadors generally make in excess of 100 presentations during their yearlong tenure. Presentations are made to groups of civic leaders, prospective teachers, current teachers, school boards, school administrators, business leaders, legislators, government leaders, and students. Over the past five years, the arizona educational foundation has received over 300 applications for consideration from urban, suburban, rural and native american reservation teachers. Teacher of the year applicants submit a 15-page in-depth application detailing their educational and professional background, their community involvement, and their philosophy of teaching. In the application, candidates must identify and discuss educational issues and trends, offer an evaluation of the teaching profession and indicate what their message to the public might be as an advocate for teachers. Each application is reviewed and scored by a panel of judges consisting of educators, corporate leaders and students. From the written applications, the panel selects 10 finalists. The panel then interviews the finalists, observes them in their classrooms via dvd and selects the teacher of the year, four ambassadors and five semi-finalists. Once the top 5 candidates are chosen, each is filmed in the classroom and interviews with co-workers and students are conducted. A video is prepared and shown at the november awards luncheon where the winner is announced. The awards luncheon attracts over 500 education and corporate leaders, becoming the only statewide event that focuses solely on teachers and celebrates excellence in the teaching profession.

Filer

EIN

94-2937109