Belleville High School Teacher Awarded Unsung Heroes Grant

Joy Alfano, a teacher at Belleville High School in Belleville, New Jersey, has received a $2,000 grant as part of Voya Financial’s 2014 Unsung Heroes awards competition.

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 the ability to positively influence the children they teach.

Selected from a group of more than 1,000 applicants, Alfano is one of only 100 winners across the country who will receive a $2,000 award to help fund and bring to life her creative idea, Buccaneer Enviro-Botics. In addition, she will now compete with other winners for one of the top three prizes — an additional $5,000, $10,000 or $25,000 from Voya Financial.

Alfano’s innovative teaching idea, Buccaneer Enviro-Botics, will involve supporting a new robotics enrichment program that seeks to enhance student learning in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) content areas, combined with environmental sustainability.

Students will learn through inquiry-based, hands-on activities that will lead to more authentic learning and inspiration to pursue college or a career in environmental science and STEM disciplines.
The program is in its beginning stages and was formed out of an intense student demand for a technology club. Alfano chose to integrate environmental stewardship and sustainability with all of her class activities, which students have embraced as an overarching theme.

The newly-acquired supplies will allow students to design and create inventions for a better environment. Alfano will build upon student enthusiasm and her experience as an environmental scientist to develop a stellar program that addresses both community and global environmental issues.

Since 1996, the Voya (formerly ING) Unsung Heroes program has awarded more than $4 million to help the nation’s educators turn creative teaching ideas into reality.

“Voya Financial is honored to salute these outstanding teachers who have the vision to pioneer new methods and techniques in the classroom that inspire learning,” said Bernie Heffernon, senior vice president of Tax-Exempt Markets for Retirement Solutions at Voya Financial. “Each day, we help individuals prepare for a secure financial future and we are proud to recognize these men and women who prepare students for their future. We understand that teaching is one of the most important professions in the world and are pleased to help Joy continue making a life-long, positive impact on the children she teaches.”

To learn more about this year’s winning projects, as well as those from previous years, visit the Unsung Heroes website (unsungheroes.com). Applications for the 2015 Voya Unsung Heroes awards are currently being accepted through the website until April 30, 2015.

About Voya Financial
Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE: VOYA), which has rebranded from ING U.S., is composed of premier retirement, investment and insurance companies serving the financial needs of approximately 13 million individual and institutional customers in the United States. Voya is grounded in a clear mission to make a secure financial future possible — one person, one family, one institution at a time. For more information, click here. Follow Voya Financial on Facebook and Twitter @Voya.