The following is a press release written by Voya Financial, Inc.
Voya Unsung Heroes program has awarded more than $6 million to help U.S. educators turn creative teaching ideas into reality for the last 27 years.
Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE: VOYA), a leading provider of retirement plans for educators, announced today that Dr. Philippe John F. Sipacio, a multilingual learning specialist at East Robeson Primary School in Lumberton, has received a $2,000 grant as part of the company’s 2023 Unsung Heroes awards competition. Sipacio is the only winner in the entire state of North Carolina.
For 27 years, the Voya Unsung Heroes program has awarded grants to K-12 educators in the United States to recognize and support their innovative teaching methods, creative educational projects, and their ability to positively influence the children they teach. Since the program’s inception, Voya has awarded more than $6 million in support of educators through this nationwide program.
“Teachers, staff and administrators responsible for the education of children are national treasures, and educators such as Dr. Philippe John F. Sipacio are among the ‘best of the best,’” said Angela Harrell, Voya’s chief diversity and corporate responsibility officer and president, Voya Foundation. “For nearly 30 years, Voya’s Unsung Heroes program and our other education-oriented initiatives have celebrated and financially supported the development of creative teaching methods and innovative thinking that help prepare students for what awaits them beyond their school years. These professionals are truly our unsung heroes.”
Sipacio’s innovative teaching idea, “MLSS for MLs,” focuses on providing a Multi-Layered System of Support (MLSS) and safer learning space for Multilingual Learners (MLs) by providing multilingual books. With these new resources, the students will easily connect with the classroom routines and activities, increase their engagement, and achieve academic success. With the Voya Unsung Heroes grant, Sipacio will provide manipulative kits and supplies that are age and grade-level appropriate, aligned with content standards, and integrated with social-emotional learning. This project will also value family engagement in the learner’s academic success, as MLs’ parents can spend valuable reading time with their children using multilingual books.
Selected from a group of applicants from across the United States, Sipacio is one of only 50 winning submissions to receive the $2,000 award to help fund and bring his program to life. In addition, he will now compete with other finalists for one of the top three prizes — an additional $5,000, $10,000 or $25,000 from Voya Financial.
To learn more about this year’s winning projects, as well as those from previous years, visit the Unsung Heroes website.
Unsung Heroes is part of Voya Foundation’s program, Voya Teacher Voices, that focuses on empowering teachers to become leaders by promoting the teaching career, recognizing high-achieving educators, providing training opportunities, and offering financial support to achieve their goals.
About the Voya Foundation
Voya Foundation's mission is to improve the quality of life in communities where Voya Financial operates and its employees and customers live. Voya Foundation provides grants and establishes signature partnerships in the areas of financial literacy and children's education and fosters employee engagement to deepen our positive impact on the community. For more information, visit www.VoyaFoundation.com.
About Voya Financial®
Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE: VOYA), is a leading health, wealth and investment company with 7,200 employees who are focused on achieving Voya’s aspirational vision: Clearing your path to financial confidence and a more fulfilling life. Through products, solutions and technologies, Voya helps its 14.7 million individual, workplace and institutional clients become well planned, well invested and well protected. Benefitfocus, a Voya company, extends the reach of Voya’s workplace benefits and savings offerings by providing benefits administration capabilities to 16.5 million individual subscription employees across four employer and health plan clients. Certified as a “Great Place to Work” by the Great Place to Work® Institute, Voya is purpose-driven and committed to conducting business in a way that is economically, ethically, socially and environmentally responsible. Voya has earned recognition as: one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies® by Ethisphere; a member of the Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index; and a “Best Place to Work for Disability Inclusion” on the Disability Equality Index. For more information, visit voya.com. Follow Voya Financial on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.