Perry teachers honored with grant

Voya Financial, Inc, a leading provider of workplace retirement solutions, including savings plans for K-12 educators, announced that Angela Germano and Blanche Davidson, teachers at Perry Middle School in have received a $2,000 grant as part of the company’s 2018 Voya Unsung Heroes awards competition.

Through the Voya Unsung Heroes program, Voya Financial awards grants to K-12 educators nationwide to honor their innovative teaching methods, creative educational projects, and ability to positively influence their students.

For more than 20 years, the program has awarded over $5 million in grants to more than 2,000 educators across the United States.

“Our Unsung Heroes program continues to recognize teachers who go above and beyond to inspire today’s students in the classroom,” said Heather Lavallee, president of Tax-Exempt Markets at Voya Financial.

“We are proud to honor teachers like Angela Germano and Blanche Davidson whose inspiring program is making a difference in the lives of young people. This commitment and passion for teaching closely aligns with our focus at Voya on helping all Americans prepare for their unique financial futures,” she added.

Germano’s and Davidson’s innovative teaching idea, “Green Innovative Teaching,” focuses on developing a Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) based entrepreneurship project.

Students involved in the project will learn about the potential for STEM careers through creating businesses with a product they are asked to make from locally grown plants. With the Voya grant, the necessary resources will be purchased to support the project.

Students will apply for a “microloan” from the school to be able to grow materials in the greenhouse to then sell and learn about paying back the loan. This program will equip students with real-world business skills and career exploration opportunities for careers in such fields as agricultural science, communications, financial planning and website design.

Selected from a group of more than 1,200 applicants, Germano and Davidson are one of only 100 winners across the country who will receive this award to help fund and bring their program to life.

In addition, they will now compete with other finalists for one of the top three prizes — an additional $5,000, $10,000 or $25,000 from Voya Financial.

To learn more about this year’s winning projects, as well as those from previous years, visit the Unsung Heroes website at Voya.com/UnsungHeroes. Applications for the 2019 Voya Unsung Heroes awards are currently being accepted through the website until April 30, 2019.

Unsung Heroes is part of Voya’s broader efforts to empower teachers to become leaders by promoting their careers, recognizing high-achieving accomplishments, providing training opportunities and offering financial support to achieve their goals.

Germano