Left to right: Westerville North educators Natalie Schaublin and Jeffrey Bracken are pictured with VOYA investment advisor representatives Edward L. Mobley and Joseph Frederick.
Representatives from Voya Financial, Inc., a leading provider of retirement plans for educators, visited Westerville North High School on Tuesday afternoon, October 20, to present teachers Jeffrey Bracken and Natalie Schaublin with a $2,000 check as part of the company’s Unsung Heroes awards competition.
Bracken’s and Schaublin’s innovative teaching idea, “The Bath Bombs Project,” is an interdisciplinary project focused on teaching students how to produce, market and sell a product to the public. The pupils will develop Bath Bombs, which are hard-packed mixtures of dry ingredients that effervesce when wet and are used to add essential oils, scent and color to bath water. The project will engage the talents of high school students from multiple courses. Chemistry students will first apply their knowledge to develop a refreshing, aromatic bathing experience. Art students will then design a logo that will be featured on product labels and advertisements, while digital photography students capture images of the soap products that will be sold online. Business pupils will then be responsible for developing a marketing strategy to sell the bath bombs to local businesses and online consumers. Bracken and Schaublin hope this project will teach their students that multiple talents and skills are necessary to operate a successful business.
Selected from a group of more than 1,350 applicants, Bracken and Schaublin are among only 100 winners from across the country who will receive this award to help fund and bring their program to life. In addition, they 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.
Through the Voya Unsung Heroes program, Voya Financial awards grants to K-12 educators nationwide to honor their innovative teaching methods, creative educational projects and their ability to positively influence the children they teach. This year marks the program’s 20th anniversary. Since 1996, Voya has awarded nearly $5 million in grants to more than 2,000 educators across the United States. Learn more at www.unsungheroes.com.