May 21, 2025
SANFORD - One, whose early education took place in Mexico, wants her future students to be inspired and feel cared about.
The other, a lifelong Lee Countian, wants to be a “bright light” for her students — just as her late grandmother was.
They’re Susann Gonzalez-Ortega and Isabella Miller, soon-to-graduate students from Lee County High School, who’ll be receiving scholarships of up to $36,000 to pursue teaching degrees, and then come back to Lee County as teachers.
Read MoreApril 1, 2025
SANFORD — In becoming the inaugural winner of the Ernest and Ruby McSwain Middle School Head of Class prize, principal Natalie Kelly says she and her team at SanLee followed a time-tested formula, one that prior winners of prize utilized at the elementary-school level.
“It was the result of many intentional and strategic actions,” said Kelly, who led the year-over-year academic growth at SanLee Middle School during the 2023-24 school year. “It was no happenstance”…
Read MoreMarch 11, 2025
SANFORD — Back in 2010, when the then-7-year-old Lee County Education Foundation launched its “Head of Class” program, the focus was squarely on Lee County’s elementary schools.
The research-based rationale: building a strong academic foundation in elementary-aged students was the best way to help guarantee later academic successes. That Head of Class award, a unique teacher incentive which included a $50,000 cash prize for the winning school, has since been awarded 11 times, most recently on Jan. 29 — to J. Glenn Edwards Elementary…
Read MoreFebruary 13, 2025
SANFORD, NC — Wendy Wicker Phillips, who spent much of her 30-year career as an educator at Deep River Elementary School, has been named the executive director of the Lee County Education Foundation.
In the newly created position, Phillips will serve as a public-facing advocate to help LCEF collaborate and partner with the greater Lee County community and Lee County Schools to fulll the Foundation’s mission — that of helping to create an outstanding school system that graduates students well-prepared for the 21st century workplace and success in life…
Read MoreJanuary 13, 2025
SANFORD — Back in 2014, in the early days of the Lee County Education Foundation’s “Head of Class” project, J. Glenn Edwards Elementary became the first — and so far the only — school to win the award in consecutive years.
The school hasn’t won since.
So when Emily Mize became principal there in 2022, winning again became a priority and one of her primary goals. ..
Read MoreNovember 24, 2024 - Since inception, the Lee County Education Foundation has been run solely by its Board of Directors. This dedicated group of individuals has managed fundraising, event planning and program expansion. Because of the explosion of programming under the LCEF umbrella, including the new Temple Sloan Lee County Teaching Fellows Program, the LCEF has made the decision to hire an Executive Director to oversee this expansion and grow our donor base. We believe a paid Executive Director will allow the Foundation to effectively further its mission of empowering educators and moving futures forward for all students in Lee County, and in a sustainable way with long-term positive outcomes for our community.
Are you passionate about public education in Lee County? Are you organized, love being involved in community events and forming relationships to make a positive impact? This role could be for you!
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