February 22, 2024— The Lee County Education Foundation, with support from the Worthy Lands Trust, presented McSwain Team Teacher Awards to 12 outstanding elementary teaching teams Wednesday during a reception and ceremony at W.B. Wicker Elementary School.

Education Foundation board members, Lee County Schools leadership, principals and staff from winning schools celebrated the winning teams, which were recognized for demonstrating exceptional growth and proficiency in their team subject. Each team member — 60 in all, most of whom were in attendance — received a certificate of appreciation and a share in the $75,000 monetary prize for exemplary performance as an educator…

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January 30, 2024 — “You are all my sparkles,” Deep River Principal Amy Lundy told a gym filled with Deep River students, staff, and community guests as she held up a clear glass ornament filled with multicolor sparkles. “You are different colors and sizes, but all together, we make a beautiful masterpiece.”

Lundy, speaking at Wednesday’s Lee County Education Foundation Head of Class award ceremony, was quick to point out that the success of Deep River’s students and faculty and staff came as the result of well-executed plans and teamwork…

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September 5, 2023 — Lee County high school students interested in pursuing careers as teachers are now eligible for up to $36,000 in college monies through a new program created by the Lee County Education Foundation and The Temple Sloan Family Foundation.

The new Temple Sloan Lee County Teaching Fellows program will award its first set of two “Sloan Scholars” beginning in 2024. The application opens Oct. 1.

LCEF board members recognized the post-Covid recruiting difficulties faced by Lee County Schools. That began an effort to find funding to create a program that would encourage Lee County’s best and brightest students to commit to becoming an educator, and to return home and begin a career in a classroom.

The Raleigh-based Sloan Foundation quickly stepped up to do just that.

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June 19, 2023 — The resumption, at Greenwood Elementary School in January, of the Lee County Education Foundation’s “Head of Class” award and ceremony signaled, perhaps in some way, an unofficial emergence from the pandemic for students in Lee County’s schools.

But post-pandemic studies and conversations among local educators revealed an unwelcome leftover from Covid-19: the decline, or even the loss, of soft skills, plus an increasing difficulty in the ability of many students to establish strong interpersonal relationships.

That drew the attention of LCEF Chairman Susan Keller. It impressed upon her and her board members that the Head of Class project — LCEF’s flagship prize, which awards $50,000 to the faculty and staff of the most-improved elementary school in Lee County — was in need of some kind of a companion program at the middle school level.

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November 30, 2022

The Lee County Education Foundation, with support from the Worthy Lands Trust, presented the first McSwain Team Teacher Awards to 10 outstanding Lee County elementary teaching teams Wednesday afternoon. Education Foundation board members, Board of Education member Sandra Bowen, Lee County School leadership, winning team members and their principals all attended an award reception at W.B. Wicker Elementary School.

Winning teams’ students showed exceptional growth and proficiency in their team subject. Each team member received a certificate of appreciation and a monetary award for his/her exemplary performance as an educator. Awards were presented in 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade reading, 3rd, 4th and 5th grade math, 5th grade science, as well as kindergarten, 1stand 2nd grade mCLASS growth and proficiency.

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October 3, 2022
Sanford, NC - The Lee County Education Foundation proudly announces the formation and implementation of The Durable Skills Project. First Bank has committed to giving the Lee County Education Foundation $50,000 to fund this newly announced initiative in Lee County.  A program formed through a partnership with Lee County Schools and the Boys & Girls Club of Central Carolina, the Durable Skills Project will reach 120 students across the 3 Lee County Middle Schools. It begins this week at East Lee Middle School, SanLee Middle School, and West Lee Middle School, teaching lifelong usable skills for the real world.

The Durable Skills Project provides support to middle schoolers through mentorship and programming geared towards life skills like effective verbal communication, self-control, and goal setting. Utilizing established, proven Boys and Girls Club curriculum with an added focus on communication, the Durable Skills Project will help students build a framework for long-term success.  Trained Boys and Girls Club staff will be on the middle school campuses meeting in person with students and leading them through this innovative program.

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