An ‘historic milestone’:  Whitfield Education Foundation awards record $144,700 in teaching grants

Published 8:30 am Friday, August 1, 2025

Standing before a packed room of teachers, administrators, local business leaders and community members in the Northwest Georgia College & Career Academy on Tuesday, Whitfield Education Foundation Executive Director Smitty Barnett shared a quote from Martin Luther King Jr. regarding education.

“The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically,” Barnett said. “Intelligence, plus character. That is the goal of true education. Every child deserves a champion, an adult who would never give up on them. That’s who these people are in this room today.”

During the ceremony the Whitfield Education Foundation gave away more grant money in a single year than ever before in foundation history for the 2025-26 school year, $144,700 across 89 innovative teaching grants for teachers and staff members.

“This is a historic milestone,” said Barnett, a retired teacher from the Whitfield County Schools system. “Today is like Christmas Day for our foundation.”

Barnett said each grant will benefit classrooms across Whitfield County Schools and is the “culmination of several collaborative community efforts to offer more to our students.”

“This is the largest honoring of grant monies in the history of the foundation,” he said. “And I want to thank every teacher, staff member and administrator for what you do to invest goodness in our kids and in your respective schools. The Whitfield Education Foundation’s Board of Trustees understand and revere the work our teachers do every day for the benefit of our students.”

That includes foundation President Joseph Farmer, who said the Whitfield Education Foundation has supported the work of the school system to “provide the highest quality education they can provide” for 35 years.

“In the past three decades, the foundation has awarded over $1 million to the schools in the form of innovative teaching grants that help engage these students in their classroom,” Farmer said.

Isaac Holbert, a Whitfield Education Foundation trustee and the owner/operator of Chick-fil-A Dalton, said this year’s grant process began this past spring with 116 applications from teachers.

“Our outside grant committee met throughout the summer and then submitted their list to the Whitfield Education Foundation board, and through our donations and fundraising efforts this past academic year, which includes business sponsorships, I’m proud to announce that the Whitfield Education Foundation will be funding 89 grants, either fully or partially, with a grant total of $144,700. We are extremely humbled and very excited to present these funds for our teachers.”

Grants were awarded to 54 elementary school teachers from Antioch Elementary, Beaverdale Elementary, Cedar Ridge Elementary, Cohutta Elementary, Dawnville Elementary, Dug Gap Elementary, Eastside Elementary, Pleasant Grove Elementary, Tunnel Hill Elementary, Valley Point Elementary, Varnell Elementary and Westside Elementary.

Grants were also awarded to 20 middle school teachers from Eastbrook Middle, New Hope Middle, North Whitfield Middle, Valley Point Middle and Westside Middle, and seven high school teachers from Coahulla Creek High, Northwest Whitfield High, Phoenix High and Southeast Whitfield High.

Three teachers from Crossroads Academy and three district office members were also awarded grants this year.

Since 2022, the Whitfield Education Foundation has also awarded the annual Ken & Myra White Premier Grant, which is primarily given to principals and their respective schools, said Barnett.

“For the past four years, (community member) Ken White has graciously donated money back to our schools through the Premier Grant,” he said. “And this year, we’re going to be awarding two Premier Grants, both $5,000 apiece, to two schools.”

This year’s recipients are Beaverdale Elementary School Principal Rena Graham and Tunnel Hill Elementary School Principal Connie Kopscak.

“At Graham’s school, they are going to be implementing a resource room with the grant,” Barnett said. “And Tunnel Hill Elementary will be doing a parent outreach program through their school, which is something to help modernize their community.”