JACKSONVILLE, FL - The Jacksonville Public Education Fund has been awarded funding by the Consortium of Florida Education Foundations and Florida Department of Education to support the development of resiliency skills in our students.
JPEF is committed to working?with Duval County’s Public Schools and community to infuse resiliency resources in schools through?community-based programming and locally driven initiatives to help address rising concerns about youth mental health and well-being
“In response to the growing understanding of the importance of mental health, JPEF will serve as a convening partner to drive local change and improvement as part of the Florida Department of Education’s approach to building resiliency skills in students,”said JPEF President Rachael Tutwiler Fortune. “As schools and communities continue to recover from the pandemic, it is more important now than ever before to support educators and community providers helping children in crisis and teach skills to foster student resiliency in the classroom.”
JPEF collaborated with key stakeholders including Duval County Public Schools, Delores Barr Weaver Policy Center, and Elevate Jacksonville to reach more than 20,000 Duval County students and will be supporting the resiliency work of more partners this year.Examples of early initiatives impact from these partners include teacher training on trust based relational interventions, creating new and positive experiences for students from Jacksonville’s urban core, and providing girl-centered training.
JPEF is also employing innovative research strategies and in-depth qualitative methodology to identify gaps, assess current programs and identify opportunities to build resiliency skills in students. Systematic informational interviews were conducted with key stakeholders in the community involved in student well-being.?Insights will inform JPEF’s ongoing support of educators and partners in this space.
JPEF’s commitment to student resiliency was highlighted at its 4th biennial?EDTalks fundraiser, which featured guest speaker Dr. Shawn Ginwright, a Harvard professor and CEO of Flourish Agenda, Inc., and has raised over $106,000 to support this work. The event was made possible through the generous support of the CEM Foundation, the presenting sponsor; The Community Foundation of Northeast Florida, the speaker sponsor; gold sponsors Poppy and Rob Clements, Cindy and Dan Edelman, Ann Hicks, Deborah Quazzo, and THE PLAYERS; silver sponsors Ellen and Jim Wiss, EverBank, Sight & Sound Productions, United Way of Northeast Florida, and many others.
Contact Amy Henderson, Director of Marketing and Communications at (404) 387-0624 or amy@jaxpef.org for more information.
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About the Jacksonville Public Education Fund
The Jacksonville Public Education Fund is an independent think-and-do tank working to close the opportunity gap for low-income students and students of color in partnership with public schools. We identify and spread best practices in equity and school quality through our strategic partnerships and initiatives with school leaders, teachers, and parents.
Photo Cutline: Delores Barr Weaver Policy Center CEO Vicky Basra speaks at JPEF’s EDTalks +Action event on the center’s work to support resiliency in Duval County girls. The work was funded by a grant provided by the Jacksonville Public Education Fund.