Alliance for Catholic Education
Extra Yard for Teachers
Text NDACE to 41444 or click the button below to support this year's campaign
The College Football Playoff Foundation and the University of Notre Dame Athletics Department has kicked off their ninth year urging fans to go to the Extra Yard for Teachers – a relationship that has raised over $4.6 million to benefit Catholic schools.
The Extra Yard for Teachers initiative raises awareness and funds for teachers in schools around the country. At Notre Dame, those proceeds directly benefit the Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE), which sends recent college graduates to teach for two years in underserved Catholic schools as they earn a master’s degree of education.
This year’s campaign includes the “Big Day” and banner ceremony at Holy Cross School in South Bend, Indiana, and culminates with an on-field recognition ceremony of ACE teachers during the Notre Dame vs. Central Michigan game on September 16.
Through December 31, gifts made to ACE will be matched by the College Football Playoff Foundation, up to $100,000. These funds have provided critical support for ACE to refine and improve its degree program and enhance its recruitment efforts at Notre Dame and on college campuses across the country. Over the past seven years, Notre Dame has finished in first place among the 100 universities who participated in the Extra Yard for Teachers initiative.
“ACE's partnership with the College Football Playoff Foundation has been instrumental in growing the ways we can serve children, particularly those on the margins,” said John Staud, the executive director of ACE. “We are so grateful for the Foundation's support."
From the outset of the partnership, the Foundation has encouraged ACE to dedicate a portion of the funds toward a competitive grants process in which ACE teachers apply for funding to address areas of need in their schools and classrooms. Over the years, over $150,000 has been allocated for projects, and ACE teachers from 16 schools received grants last season, including such projects as:
- Materials to create a space for students who need testing accommodations at McGill-Toolen Catholic High School in Mobile, Alabama
- Microscopes for STEM classrooms at Bourgade Catholic High School in Phoenix, Arizona
- Books and other materials to create a literacy carnival at St. Anthony Catholic School in Corpus Christi, Texas
The annual "Big Day" events at local schools have created greater bonds between the University and the local community and taught students the importance of dreaming and working toward college. This year, Salima Rockwell, the coach of Notre Dame’s women's volleyball team, will speak to students at Holy Cross School on Wednesday, September 13. She’ll also present a Notre Dame banner to be hung at the school to help inspire students to set their sights on college.
Holy Cross has a number of connections to ACE. The school’s principal, Annie Borjas, earned a master’s degree in educational leadership through ACE’s Mary Ann Remick Leadership Program. ACE has also partnered with the school through its English as a New Language program, which has worked with Holy Cross to create a dual-language immersion program in which students learn to speak and write both Spanish and English beginning in pre-kindergarten.
