In 1998, the SMARTer Kids Foundation’s founding partner, SMART Technologies, donated a SMART Board interactive whiteboard and floor stand to the Missouri Teacher of the Year program. Organizers of the Missouri program first requested the SMART Board product after witnessing how it increased class participation and improved student learning outcomes.

Recognizing the value of this donation to the recipients, SMART Technologies and the SMARTer Kids Foundation teamed up to create the Teaching Excellence Award (TEA) program. The TEA program offered to support every U.S. State Teacher of the Year program by donating leading educational technology products to recognized Teachers of the Year. The TEA program then began researching and recruiting other classroom technologies with recognizable benefit to students and teachers. Partnerships were developed with like-minded organizations that were, and continue to be, actively engaged in providing enhanced learning opportunities to children through the development of educational technologies.

By the end of 2001, the TEA program had offered a 5-year sponsorship commitment to state department teacher-recognition programs in each of the 50 continental states and each of the 7 extra-state jurisdictions (American Samoa, the District of Columbia, the Department of Defense Education Activity, Guam, Puerto Rico, Northern Mariana Islands, and the Virgin Islands). This commitment has earned the SMARTer Kids Foundation recognition by the U.S. Council of Chief State School Officers as sponsors of the U.S. National Teacher of the Year program. Through this venture, TEA partners have been honored to attend the introduction of the National Teacher of the Year by the President and First Lady, at a ceremony held at the White House each year.

In 2003, the TEA program was pleased to expand its program sponsorship to include Alberta Education’s Innovative Use of Technology awards (Canada). In 2005, the TEA program offered support of the Michigan Association of Computer Users in Learning (MACUL) Outstanding Educator and Teacher of the Year awards. With the adoption of these two programs, the TEA program hopes to further recognize and reward technology-using educators for their role in preparing students for a technologically changing world.

Since its development in 2001 and with gracious thanks to its business partners, the Foundation’s TEA program has facilitated the donation of over US$4.2 million in technology products to outstanding educators. Furthermore, in January 2006, the SMARTer Kids Foundation announced a renewed 5-year sponsorship commitment to U.S. State and National Teacher of the Year programs through the TEA program.

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