Cortez Community Members Buoy Educators’ Spirits With a Thank-You Lunch | LOR Foundation
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Cortez Community Members Buoy Educators’ Spirits With a Thank-You Lunch

  • Local Champion: Cortez Teacher Appreciation Committee
  • Date Funded: April 18, 2022
  • Grant Amount: $5,820

Beleaguered by the challenges of the pandemic, online education, and recent curriculum changes, educators in Cortez’s Montezuma-Cortez RE-1 School District were exhausted, frustrated, and feeling a lack of appreciation. To buoy their spirits and address this problem, the Cortez Teacher Appreciation Committee—a volunteer group of engaged community members—decided to host an appreciation lunch that included prizes, thank-you goody bags, and live music for the district’s nearly 300 teachers, principals, paraprofessionals, and school secretaries. LOR’s funding supported the purchase of gifts and helped make the lunch possible.

This project is fiscally sponsored by Onward! A Legacy Foundation

In The News

Cortez Celebrates Teachers (Cortez Journal)

Expressing Appreciation (Four Corners Free Press)

Contact our community officer in Cortez. Meet Nicci Crowley
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