Launched in 2015, the Thank America's Teachers program enables Americans everywhere to say thank you to teachers who made an impact on their lives. In addition to awarding 180 grants valued at $2,500 throughout the year to recognize the great work that teachers do every day, Farmers Insurance took the program one step further by developing the Dream Big Teacher Challenge, offering teachers a chance to compete for six $100,000 educational grants. In total, Farmers gave teachers across the country more than $1 million in educational grants in 2015.
One of Farmers’ biggest winners in 2015 was Kat Tacea of Lafayette Elementary School in Long Beach, California. Kat won the grant by submitting a technology-forward proposal to the Thank America’s Teachers program that would prepare her students for life in the 21st century.
In 2017, two years after received the $100,000 grant, students and staff at Lafayette Elementary School in Long Beach celebrated their newly built media center.
"Technology is the pen and paper of today's learning," Teacher Kat Tacea said.
"It's really bringing devices into the hands of kids when and where they need it the most - for us, it's in the classroom," Tacea said.
The grant allowed the school to buy more than 200 iPads and Google Chromebooks to help prepare students for the future.
"Many of them do not have internet access at home, nor devices. So it really is a moral imperative as an educator to provide that platform," Tacea said. "Test scores for sure have increased, but it's beyond the test scores - it's really making them ready for today's world."
Farmers Insurance District Manager Dave Gamble was showered with thank you cards from students and was thrilled to see the grant in action.
“These kids and generations of kids to come will benefit from not just the technology, but the infrastructure they’ve put in place at this school”
