JCEF names Prevatt Mini-Grant Teacher of the Year

Laura Young
ECB Publishing, Inc.

Jefferson County Educational Foundation, Inc. (JCEF) treated teachers and staff of Jefferson County K-12 (JCS) to a bountifully catered appreciation event on Tuesday, May 9. In addition to naming the first Mini-Grant Teacher of the Year recipient, JCEF presented every JCS teacher and staff member with a gift bag and the chance to win Chromebooks.
JCEF Executive Board Member John Lilly gave welcoming remarks to the crowd that filled the JCS cafeteria, saying in part, “We are delighted to have you here today to celebrate the exceptional work by dedicated instructional and support staff here. The Jefferson County Education Foundation wants to show our gratitude and appreciate for the outstanding efforts of our teachers and staff.”
Event Co-Chair and JCEF Executive Board Member Geraldine Wildgoose then recognized the other members of the JCEF Executive Board, including President Ann Herring, Vice President Franklin J. Brooks, Secretary Glyndell B. Presley, Treasurer Angela Gray, John Lilly, Gladys Roann-Watson, Danny Collins, Martha Creel, Jacqueline Seabrooks and Edith Tricquet.
Wildgoose also recognized the event sponsors and food vendors who helped make the event such a success. Sponsors included Beggs Funeral Homes, Comcast, Monticello Mayor Gloria Cox, District 2 School Board Member Willie Ann Dickey, Elyon Technologies, Property Appraiser Angela Gray, Sherrif Mac McNeill, Jefferson County Teacher's Credit Union, Livingston Place, Lloyd Nursery, Morris Propane, Supervisor of Elections Michelle Milligan, State Representative Allison Tant, Tri-County Electric Cooperative, Waukeenah Fertilizer & Farm Supply, Gladys Roann-Watson & Kent Watson, Mr. & Mrs. Martin Wood III and United Country Real Estate.
A Taste of Monticello food vendors engaged by JCEF for the event included Roscoe's Food for the Soul, Klucker's Famous Fried Chicken & More, Subway Monticello, Jackie's Brick House, The Man's Doghouse, Red Barn Wings & More, Carlitos Way Food Truck, Johnston's Meat Market, The Rev Café, The Porch on the Green, Winn-Dixie, Pizza Hut, Robotos Tokyo Grill, Lil Figs Café, CowHaus Coffee Company, Mia's Cakes by the Pound, Mrs. Lydia's Kitchen, Bob & Jeff's Neighborhood Market, Kitz Cookie Company and Ray's Tents. What an impressive spread of tasty delights they provided!
Addressing educators, Wildgoose said, “We salute all of you as you 'Restore the Roar.' We congratulate teachers as you observe teacher appreciation this week. Thank you for all that you do and will continue to do for the children in our school and our community.”
She also acknowledged state, county and city officials in attendance, thanking them for supporting the foundation's efforts.
Gladys Roann-Watson then told the history of JCEF, which she said was “started in 1985 by community members, business owners, administrators and regular folks who saw the need to start the foundation.”
She explained that JCEF is an entity set up to support the public school and is a member of the Consortium of Florida Education Foundations, created by the legislature as oversight for all the education foundations statewide.
Next Rev. Dr. Melvin Roberts gave the invocation and blessing.
After time to enjoy the buffet, the program continued with highlights from the JCEF grant program, presented by Treasurer Angela Gray. She began by explaining that the State of Florida matches dollar for dollar for every county who privately raises at least $10,000 in their community. Gray recognized Duke Energy as a significant local grant partner who has helped JCEF meet this goal year after year.
“Over time, since 2016, we have secured over $46,000 from the state legislature through the match fund, and we've received $38,000 from Duke Energy to help match that money. This year, we have grants that we awarded in the classroom, and that total for this year was $22,800.”
The money has funded a variety of classroom and campus-wide projects, such as Historical Site Surveys; Environment, Energy and Motion Project; AR Reading Program; STEM Night; Backyard Poultry Project; Financial Literacy; Raising Rabbits Project; We Love Technology Project; and We Love to Read and Write Project. JCEF funds have also been allocated for ELL mainstream support, purchase of bilingual books, a reading fair, a picnic table project and a Pet Pal erasers reward program. Gray encouraged JCS teachers to be thinking over the summer about what projects they might apply for next year. Typically, she said, each teacher can apply for up to $500 for each project.
Gray announced that this year a new grant partner, NextEra, gave $100,000 to JCEF as seed money to guarantee that the foundation would have a decade of match money for the future. This announcement brought whoops and applause from the audience, and then Gray moved on to another big announcement.
“At the foundation,” said Gray, “we always want you all to try and get money from us, so we thought, to incentivize you, this is the first year we are going to give what we call a Mini-Grant Teacher of the Year Award.”
The first-ever recipient of this award was Stephanie Prevatt, who heads up the Agro-Technology program at JCS. In a video presentation, Prevatt's students lauded her as a great teacher, who is not only very nice but also efficient as well as skilled in getting students involved in clubs and ready for their next step after high school. As the JCEF Mini-Grant Teacher of the Year, Prevatt was presented with a trophy, a $500 check and a Chromebook.
Appreciation for JCS faculty and staff continued with drawings, for which staff had to be present to win. The Chromebook winner in the non-instructional staff drawing ultimately was Gloria Beverly; the Chromebook winner in the instructional staff drawing was Doneisha Miller; and the winner of a large gift basket was Shelbi McCall.
In conclusion, Gray said, “As the foundation board, we are here to support you and our education system, and our wish for you is that all your dreams come true, because we know your wish for all of the children that you teach here is that their wishes come true. We value you. We are so thankful to have you here. We're so thankful to have our school district back. We're here to support you and your efforts to make sure that we have children that have every opportunity that anyone else in the state has, and we're here to help make that happen. We're not here to judge you; we're here to help you.”
JCEF Vice President Franklin J. Brooks promised the crowd that they would do this again, and in closing commented, “We are all in this thing together, you all. No matter what you might think or see, we are all in this together.”