For the first time in Fay's history, we are thrilled to announce the winner of the first annual Gena Lewis Distinguished Teaching Award, Art Teacher Katherine Price! This award, established by the Marie Fay Evnochides Fund (MFE Fund) in the fall of 2021, celebrates former Fay teacher Gena Lewis and will help further to drive the implementation of Priority 2 in our Strategic Plan.
Price was awarded in an outdoor ceremony just behind The Fay House with Fay's founder, Marie Fay Evnochides, the family of Gena Lewis, and the MFE Board in attendance. Price's winning proposal focused on engaging and including children in every grade at The Fay School to design and build Fay's first-ever Art Car for entering Houston's Art Car Parade during the 2022-2023 school year. This year a total of five impressive proposals were submitted, representing an array of ideas and areas of the school. Price's winning submission will receive an award of $5,000 to fund her Project Based Learning Unit proposal selected by the MFE Board.
The MFE Fund made an initial and restricted grant of $45,000 to establish the Gena Lewis Distinguished Teaching Award Fund to create this annual award. The MFE Fund will continue to award grants of $5,000 to be used for the winning project, as well as add $5,000-$15,000 per year to the corpus of the permanently restricted fund until the corpus value reaches $100,000, and the Gena Lewis Distinguished Teaching Award Fund is fully funded. We are grateful for the MFE Fund and its vision to support The Fay School as we continue to become the leader in early childhood and elementary education.
Congratulations to Katherine Price and all of the teachers who submitted proposals. We look forward to seeing the impact this award, and the legacy of Gena Lewis will have on The Fay School for years to come!
About Gena Lewis: Gena Lewis left an indelible mark at The Fay School as a first First Grade Teacher. During her 18 year tenure at The Fay School, Gena started the “Open Work” program that laid the groundwork for the experiential learning seen in Fay’s classrooms today. The Marie Fay Evnochides Fund has established a teaching award in her honor. This annual award will fund selected experiential activities or projects and recognize the teacher or teachers who proposed the idea.