About Us

TeachersCount is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization whose mission is to raise the status of the teaching profession and provide resources to the education community.  Using a public service announcement national ad campaign and related initiatives, TeachersCount is working to create a permanent culture of teacher appreciation in the United States.  To learn more about this website, please visit the I’m Just Curious.

TeachersCount’s most visible program is the “Behind Every Famous Person Is a Fabulous Teacher” Campaign—a series of print public service announcements in the Time Inc. family of magazine.  Each ad features a celebrity and his or her teacher, along with a few uplifting words about teaching.  In October, 2006, First Lady Laura Bush, who posed for an ad with her favorite teacher, spoke at the official launch of the campaign in New York City.  Other famous faces in the campaign include actor Jeremy Piven, NFL player Curtis Martin, American Express CEO Kenneth Chenault, and many others.  Time Inc., which has donated millions of dollars worth of ad space, and Jones New York In The Classroom, which underwrites the production costs of the ads, are the campaign’s biggest supporters.

In addition to partnerships with Time Inc. and Jones New York In The Classroom, TeachersCount also has past or present partnerships with Scholastic, Hallmark, Google, Marvel Entertainment, and OfficeMax, among other companies.  In each issue of Scholastic’s Instructor magazine, TeachersCount authors the Making a Difference column, which is based on the theme, “Behind every incredible kid is an inspiring teacher.”  Each article highlights a kid or group of kids that have accomplished something incredible and the teacher who helped make the success possible.

In 2006, TeachersCount worked with OfficeMax and Marvel to present the Super Hero Teacher of the Year Contest, which turned real teachers and the middle school students who nominated them into comic book characters in a special-edition Marvel comic book.  The books were distributed for free in OfficeMax stores across the nation that summer.

In addition to working to raise the status of the teaching profession, TeachersCount also provides resources to the education community, primarily via this website.  Lesson plans, information about professional development, teacher appreciation ideas, education news, editorial features, resources for prospective teachers, and a retail savings program are just a few examples of the many free resources on TeachersCount.org.