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 Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE: VOYA), a leading provider
of retirement plans for educators, announced today that Nichole
Folkman, the district librarian at Hartsburg-Emden CUSD #21 / Stags
Read Community Literacy in Hartsburg, has received a $2,000 grant as
part of the company’s 2022 Unsung Heroes awards competition. Folkman
is the only winner in the entire state of Illinois.
For 26 years, the Voya Unsung Heroes program has awarded grants to
K-12 educators in the United States to honor their innovative
teaching methods, creative educational projects, and their ability
to positively influence the children they teach. Since the program’s
inception, Voya has awarded more than $5.9 million in support of
educators through this nationwide program.
"Educators like Nichole greatly influence and shape our nation's
future leaders,” said Angela Harrell, Voya’s chief diversity and
corporate responsibility officer and president, Voya Foundation.
"Their creative teaching methods and innovative thinking inspire and
motivate students to reach new heights. For 26 years, through Voya
Unsung Heroes and other education-oriented programs, we have
supported educators who go above and beyond to enrich the lives of
their students."
Folkman's innovative teaching idea, “Postcard Field
Trip,” is designed to help those students, who don't get to travel
or those who don't feel comfortable traveling because of the
pandemic, see the world. Students learn about places, people,
landmarks, environments, agriculture, and vegetation in the United
States and from around the world through immersive experiences like
virtual fieldtrips, museum tours, webinars, author visits, and other
fun activities.
Available to all K-12 students, the curriculum will
be shared in the school district's online learning spaces, so
everyone can participate. The Voya Unsung Heroes grant will help
Folkman take her students on trips to history and art museums,
plays, and other places to explore their local community, world
cultures and history. She hopes it helps build community
and reduce the feeling of isolation where students can interact as
much or as little as they like, fostering independence and
exploration.
Selected from a group of applicants from across the
United States, Folkman is one of only 50 winners in the nation to
receive the $2,000 award to help fund and bring her program to life.
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In addition, she will now compete with other finalists for one of
the top three prizes — an additional $5,000, $10,000 or $25,000 from Voya
Financial.
To learn more about this year’s winning projects, as well as those from previous
years, visit the Unsung Heroes website.
Unsung Heroes is part of Voya Foundation’s signature program, Voya Teacher
Voices, that focuses on empowering teachers to become leaders by promoting the
teaching career, recognizing high-achieving educators, providing training
opportunities, and offering financial support to achieve their goals.
About Voya Foundation
Voya Foundation's mission is to improve the quality of life in communities where
Voya Financial operates and its employees and customers live. Voya Foundation
provides grants and establishes signature partnerships in the areas of financial
literacy and children's education and fosters employee engagement to deepen our
positive impact on the community. For more information, visit
www.Voya
Foundation.com
About Voya Financial®
Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE: VOYA), is a leading health, wealth and investment
company that provides products, solutions and technologies that enable a better
financial future for its clients, customers and society. Serving the needs of
14.3 million individual, workplace and institutional clients, Voya has
approximately 6,000 employees and had $644 billion in total assets under
management and administration as of June 30, 2022. Certified as a “Great Place
to Work” by the Great Place to Work® Institute, Voya is purpose-driven and is
equally committed to conducting business in a way that is socially,
environmentally, economically and ethically responsible. Voya has earned
recognition as: one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies® by the Ethisphere
Institute; a member of the Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index; and a “Best Place to
Work for Disability Inclusion” on the Disability Equality Index. For more
information, visit voya.com. Follow Voya Financial on Facebook, LinkedIn and
Twitter @Voya.
[Betsy Helgager Hughes] |
