The Sun Belt Conference will again join the College Football Playoff (CFP) Foundation in recognizing educators via the Extra Yard for Teachers initiative throughout the 2023 football season.

NEW ORLEANS — The Sun Belt Conference will again join the College Football Playoff (CFP) Foundation in recognizing educators via the Extra Yard for Teachers initiative throughout the 2023 football season.

Each of the Sun Belt’s 14 institutions will receive a $6,000 grant from the CFP Foundation to assist in elevating the education profession by inspiring and empowering teachers through the implementation of the program’s four focus areas: recognition, resources, professional development and recruitment and retention.  
Additionally, each of the 14 Sun Belt football programs will honor teachers at a designated Extra Yard for Teachers game on their respective campuses—primarily during Extra Yard for Teachers Week (Sept. 15-23, 2023). 

Initiated in 2015, Extra Yard for Teachers Week is a nationwide celebration of teachers, led by the CFP Foundation. It uses the platform of college football to show appreciation for educators in communities across the country.

Extra Yard for Teachers Week provides an opportunity for conferences, universities, coaches and student-athletes to celebrate and recognize teachers, while elevating the teaching profession. The CFP Foundation’s Extra Yard for Teachers initiative has collectively invested over $68 million in support of education, impacting 500,000 teachers and more than 10 million students nationwide.

The Sun Belt Conference will also promote the Extra Yard for Teachers initiative during the 2023 Hercules Tires Sun Belt Football Championship Game, which is scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 2, at 4 p.m. ET/3 p.m. CT.  

Below is a schedule of Sun Belt campus celebrations for the CFP Foundation’s Extra Yard for Teachers platform.

App State | October 10 vs. Coastal Carolina
Facilitating the second annual Reich College of Education / Public School Partnership “Future Educators Day” in Boone, N.C., and sponsoring attendees of the North Carolina Teacher Cadet Conference in Raleigh, N.C.

Arkansas State | September 16 vs. Stony Brook

Providing six different teachers with $1,000 grants for classroom resources.

Coastal Carolina | September 16 vs. Duquesne
Honoring the fifth annual Horry County Schools Rookie Teacher of the Year.

Georgia Southern | September 9 vs. UAB

Providing 20 different teachers in Bulloch, Liberty and Chatham counties with two game tickets and $250 grants for classroom resources. 

Georgia State | September 30 vs. Troy

Sponsoring professional development opportunities for teachers at Asa G. Hilliard Elementary School in Fulton County.

James Madison | September 30 vs. South Alabama
Providing three different Rockingham County Public Schools with $2,000 grants for classroom resources.

Louisiana | September 23 vs. Buffalo
Providing three different Lafayette Parish teachers with $2,000 grants for classroom resources.

ULM | September 9 vs. Lamar

Providing Drums Alive—which combines the benefits of a traditional physical fitness program with the brain affected benefits of music and rhythm—and Bee-Bot—which helps teach sequencing, estimation, problem-solving, coding and computational thinking—educational tools to schools in Ouachita Parish.

Marshall | September 2 vs. Albany

Providing grants for classroom resources to teachers who serve as mentors to undergraduates within the College of Education and Professional Development.

Old Dominion | September 16 vs. Wake Forest

Providing classroom essentials to and celebrating the teachers within Norfolk Public Schools.

South Alabama | September 23 vs. Central Michigan
Providing game tickets to Mobile and Baldwin County teachers, along with a $200 grant for classroom resources.

Southern Miss | September 16 vs. Tulane
Providing three different teachers in the Pine Belt community with $2,000 grants for classroom resources.

Texas State | September 23 vs. Nevada
Supporting the San Marcos CISD Dual Language Program, which is offered at three different elementary schools. Recognizing teachers at Hispanic Heritage Day game.

Troy | September 16 vs. James Madison
Providing 500 game tickets to teachers in Pike County, along with a $2,000 grant for school supplies.