#TeachersCan

In mid-2019, a statewide coalition consisting of more than 150 Texas partners — brands, associations, chambers of commerce, community groups, and universities — came together and created an initiative designed to:

Increase teacher morale and give teachers a platform to share their stories about teaching and express why teaching is so important
Augment the perceived and expressed value of the teaching profession and likelihood of parents (and teachers!) to encourage students to consider teaching as a career
Generate individual, corporate, and community support for teachers and their classrooms
Provide organizations an open source platform to support teachers

Since 2020, #TeachersCan has coordinated campaigns and promotions around Teacher Appreciation Week in May, back-to-school time in August, and Texas Teachers’ Day, the week of October 5.

Original plans called for #TeachersCan to launch at SXSWedu, but when Covid hit in early 2020, the team had to quickly regroup and come up with a new plan. The launch was pushed a few weeks from April to May to align with Teacher Appreciation Week and shifted from in-person to almost completely virtual. The team planned and coordinated 41 virtual events — from cooking demonstrations to fitness and mindfulness sessions, concerts and author readings — culminating with a virtual toast to Texas teachers during the virtual H-E-B Excellence in Education Awards.

#TeachersCan partners and generous supporters across the state have raised more than $3.1 million for Texas teachers and classrooms through a donor-match partnership with DonorsChoose. #TeachersCan launched a statewide statewide campaign consisting of TV PSAs, billboards, NPR sponsorships, digital ads, a statewide “Texas Loves Teachers” bus tour in partnership with H-E-B, social media and website content, email newsletters, partner promotions, city council proclamations, school board resolutions, building and landmark light-ups in blue (the academic color of education), blue ribbon displays, swag, downloadable materials, and other events and initiatives.