Great Hearts Announces Teacher Excellence Fund Telethon

Second Virtual Fundraiser to Take Place September 25

PHOENIX – Great Hearts Academies is proud to announce its second Teacher Excellence Fund Telethon, presented by Casas Bonitas and produced by Broadcast Rentals taking place Saturday, September 25 from noon to 8 p.m. live-streamed across YouTube, Facebook and academy websites. This event will support the Teacher Excellence Fund, which provides bonus compensation every December to reward and retain the best Great Hearts teachers across Arizona.

The telethon will be the primary fundraising vehicle for this year’s annual Teacher Excellence Fund, giving Great Hearts Academies the opportunity to reward the Arizona teachers who worked harder than ever this year.

Last year was the first time the fundraiser went virtual with a telethon and more than $450,000 was raised for the 2020 Teacher Excellence Fund, which provided 662 Great Hearts Arizona teachers with bonus compensation in December 2020. The Telethon was launched in response to the postponement of the annual Great Hearts Gala due to the pandemic.

“Our success with the telethon exceeded our expectations last year,” said Erik Twist, Arizona president of Great Hearts. “Every day our teachers are tasked with cultivating the minds of young scholars. They deserve to be recognized and we decided to continue with the telethon this year due to the success in 2020.”

Community members can donate by calling (480) 685-9940 on September 25, or by making a gift before the event to be recognized on the live-streamed telethon feed. In-kind donations such as catering, drinks, and snacks for telethon volunteers are also needed.

The Telethon is made possible thanks to the following generous sponsors: Casas Bonitas, Veeya, Arizona Bank and Trust, JP Griffin Group, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Buck Financial, Fester & Chapman, DEPCOM G.I.V.E.S, Baird, Brickhouse Capital, Apostle Tech, Orcutt Winslow, Lovitt & Touché, Broadcast Rentals, and Hoopes, Adams & Scharber, PLC. Sponsorship packages begin at $5,000 and are still available to both families and corporations. Great Hearts juniors, seniors, alumni and parents are invited to serve as volunteers at the telethon. To donate, sponsor, or volunteer at the Telethon visit www.greatheartstelethon.org. Contact Haley Kucharo, Development Officer, at 602-438-7045 x 490 or hkucharo@greatheartsaz.org for more information.

Great Hearts is a nonprofit network of tuition-free public charter schools dedicated to improving education nationwide through classical preparatory K-12 academies. There are 22 schools and 14,000 students throughout Phoenix. More information can be found at greatheartsamerica.org.

About Great Hearts Academies

Great Hearts is a nonprofit network of tuition-free public charter schools dedicated to improving education nationwide through classical preparatory K-12 academies. As the largest provider of liberal arts classical education campuses in the country, Great Hearts Academies serve more than 22,000 students at 30 tuition-free public schools in greater Phoenix, Ariz., San Antonio, Irving, and Ft. Worth, TX, with waitlists that typically exceed enrollment. Great Hearts provides a robust liberal arts curriculum incorporating advanced math and science, a focus on the arts and foreign language, and a range of extra-curricular activities and athletics. Learn more at www.greatheartsamerica.org.

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