Notre Dame and ACE Partner with CFP to go the Extra Yard For Teachers

The College Football Playoff Foundation and the University of Notre Dame Athletics Department kicks off their eighth year urging fans to go to the Extra Yard for Teachers today – a relationship that has raised over $4 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 St. Adalbert Catholic School in South Bend, Indiana, and culminates with an on-field recognition ceremony of ACE teachers during the Notre Dame vs. Marshall game on September 10. 

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 build computers at St. John School in Baton Rouge
• Resources for English language learners at St. Peter Claver Catholic School in Atlanta
• A new vocabulary curriculum for Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic School in Phoenix

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, JP Abercrumbie, Notre Dame’s executive associate athletics director for culture and engagement, will speak to students at St. Adalbert (519 S Olive St, South Bend, IN 46619) at 1:30 p.m. on Thursday, September 8. She’ll also present a Notre Dame banner to be hung at the school to help inspire students to set their sights on college.

St. Adalbert has a number of connections to ACE. The school’s principal, Jenni Crain, earned a master’s degree in educational leadership through ACE’s Mary Ann Remick Leadership Program, and Fr. Drew Clary, CSC, the middle-school science teacher, is a graduate of ACE Teaching Fellows, and Mary Gallagher, the middle-school language arts teacher, is a graduate of the Remick Leadership Program. Br. Matt Rehagen, who teaches fifth grade, is a current ACE teacher. 

Contributions to ACE may be made online (https://ace.nd.edu/cfpf) or by texting NDACE to 41444.