Elite Media, a black-owned New York-based ad agency, showed its appreciation this week to a group of 50 teachers and staff members who work at a public school in the Harlem neighborhood of Manhattan.  

The agency surprised the group, from Teachers College Community School, with a $150,000 ‘self-care’ grant ($3,000 each) on the day before school let out for the summer.  

The award is intended to be used for self-care and career development.   

The agency hopes acts like this can demonstrate how businesses, organizations and people can give back to help solve challenges in their communities. 

To honor the school staff further, Elite Media also put up billboards saluting school staff around the neighborhood.  

“Public school staff work tirelessly throughout the year,” said Christopher Crawford, Founder & CEO of Elite Media. “We are reinvesting our own operating budget into the “Schoolys” initiative to ensure that support reaches the people who put their hearts and souls into the work the institution does every day.”  

Part of the incentive for the “Schoolys” program is personal: Crawford’s father worked at PS 28 in Harlem nearly 50 years ago.  

The presentation of the surprise grant was orchestrated with the help of CBS This Morning’s Gayle King, who did a segment on the event for Wednesday’s broadcast. 

The self-care grant is phase one of Elite Media’s multi-year commitment in support of the school. The agency is also formulating plans to enhance the curriculum, make physical improvements to the building and playground, and provide agency staff to write grants to help the school receive continued support.