OCEF Launches 2024-2025 Teacher Innovation Grants Program

Over the past decade, the Orange County (Virginia) Education Foundation (OCEF) has awarded over $65,000 in dedicated Teacher Innovation Grants (TIGs) to dozens of Orange County (OC) teachers! Grants are awarded at all 4 education levels based on teacher applications and evaluation by a dedicated TIG Awards committee.

This year, we are aiming at an expansion of our TIG program. With the increasing use of technology at all levels of education in our County (AI as only one example!), special purpose, dedicated projects featuring new and “Education Applicable” technology will allow our students to get real “hands on” experience with technology they will use as they advance in their respective education and work careers. In addition, the TIG program will act as an incentive for our great OC teachers to remain teaching with OC and will attract new teachers to come teach in OC! As we have informed our teachers, winning a TIG grant is a way to maximize your impact on your students’ education and to contribute, directly, to your teaching profession.

In terms of timing, we are aiming to begin fund raising, now, then to announce this year’s TIG program, to our teachers, right after the beginning of the new 2024-2025 school year in August of 2024. We will evaluate proposals and make awards this October with projects actually evolving over the subsequent months. As part of our TIG fund raising efforts, we will be conducting our annual “Celebration of Education” event this August where we recognize a standout teacher and others who have contributed to education in OC. We will be announcing this event soon. Hope you will join us!

At the present time, we have some $14,600 in our OCEF General Teacher Innovation Grant Fund. We want to increase that account to $25,000 which would allow us to reach our expanded goals. We hope we can count on your support!

• Previous TIP award winners, plus documentation of our scholarship and grant awards