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Heart Of The School Awards Helping Baltimore Principals Improve Their Schools

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- The Fund for Educational Excellence is hosting their third award show to honor Baltimore's outstanding principals.

Baltimore schools also benefit from this ceremony.

Dunbar High School is one of 60 schools in Baltimore to receive a grant from the Principal Support Fund.

Students walking through the hallways of Dunbar High School are greeted daily with beautiful artwork painted by the graduating class.

"What it meant to the seniors, was it meant everything to them," said 10th grade student Keyon Brown. "They are always going to have Dunbar with them no matter where they go. They're always going to have connections to the school."

Dunbar's principal, Tammy Nichole Mays, was awarded $3,000 from the Principal Support Fund to bring in professional artist Keith Street to guide students in the creation of the murals.

"It's great that we can go to an organization that will provide us with additional funding that we couldn't necessarily do with our budgets," said Mays.

Grants made possible by the proceeds from the Fund for Educational Excellence's Heart of the School Awards ceremony.

"It's important to at least, once a year, take a breath and celebrate the great work that they do and not ask anything from them," Roger Schulman, Fund for Educational Excellence president and CEO, said. "And for the entire community to come together and thank them for the hard work they do every single day."

Schulman has awarded schools with funding for art, field trips, and new technology.

"Any principal in Baltimore City Public Schools can apply for the Principal Support Fund for a grant up to $5,000 to take on any kind of project that they feel would benefit their school community," Schulman said.

And schools are encouraged to reapply each year.

"The goal is to get a mural in every floor, so through the building, they see their history reflected in front of them," principal Mays said.

An investment in Baltimore's principals, students, and their promising future.

In total, more than $235,000 has been awarded in grants from the Principal Support Fund.

The third annual Heart of the School Awards ceremony is Monday, May 21.

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