Huntington Bank Expands Ignite the Classroom Initiative to Support More Educators Across the Country
[Columbus, Ohio] – As part of Huntington National Bank’s Ignite the Classroom initiative, administrator Cherrelle Turner immersed herself in an intensive two-day professional development experience at the Ron Clark Academy (RCA), an internationally acclaimed middle school in Atlanta, GA. “Educators from across the country came together prior to the start of this school year to re-ignite their passion for teaching and learning new ways to maximize outcomes for students,” she said. “Everyone was so happy to be there.”
Cherelle, Coordinator of Business Partnerships & Work-Based Learning at Eastland-Fairfield Career & Technical Schools in Columbus, is one of nearly 800 educators who joined this transformative training experience at RCA last July.
Designed to support educators and help enhance student learning, Huntington’s Ignite the Classroom initiative acknowledges the tireless work of educators and provides principals, teachers, coaches, counselors, and other education support professionals with an exceptional professional development opportunity.
In partnership with RCA, Ignite the Classroom reached over 2,000 educators and 40 school districts across the bank’s footprint in the first year of the program.
In 2025, Huntington will host events in nine of its markets to celebrate educators. These events will feature RCA co-founder and famed educator Ron Clark, who will share insights about his unique teaching philosophy and proven best practices that earned him the title “America’s Educator.” At each event, a select number of educators will receive scholarships to attend the same two-day training session – known as The Ron Clark Experience (RCA EXP) – that Cherrelle Turner and 800 peer educators participated in and observed.
To enhance their learning experience, each cohort of educators will take part in the Ignite the Classroom initiative over a one-year period. After their visit to RCA, Huntington will provide follow-up lessons facilitated by RCA staff members to help educators throughout the school year. These virtual training sessions will help the educators implement some or many of the tools they learned during their RCA EXP. The educators will also reconvene for a reunion in their local market, where RCA Co-Founder Kim Bearden and other RCA teachers will discuss best practices and problem solving.
In 2024, Huntington invested $1.5 million to launch Ignite the Classroom in five markets – Columbus, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Detroit and Pittsburgh. This year, the bank added four new markets – Akron, OH, Charlotte, Minneapolis, and Charleston, WV. Huntington’s community-focused approach has made a greater impact on this investment, which includes $450,000 in scholarships. By convening corporations, foundations, and individuals in each of these markets, more educators have an opportunity to gain professional training at RCA.
“We are excited about our second year working with the Ron Clark Academy and growing the number of markets across our footprint,” said Consumer & Regional Banking President Brant Standridge. “With this expansion, more educators can experience the transformative training that will empower them with new tools and skills to make a lasting impact in their classrooms and local communities.”
Huntington Bank and RCA retained KPMG to establish and track metrics to assess the measurable impacts on the educators, students and districts alike. In addition to analyzing each educator’s individual Ignite the Classroom journey, KPMG will also assess and suggest improvements for overall efficacy.
With the new markets, Huntington expects to double the number of educator scholarships this year to 1,600 and anticipates impacting more than 5,000 educators through Ignite the Classroom over the next two years.
To learn more about Huntington’s Ignite the Classroom initiative in collaboration with the Ron Clark Academy visit www.Huntington.com/IgniteTheClassroom.
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About Huntington
Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (Nasdaq: HBAN) is a $210 billion asset regional bank holding company headquartered in Columbus, Ohio. Founded in 1866, The Huntington National Bank and its affiliates provide consumers, small and middle‐market businesses, corporations, municipalities, and other organizations with a comprehensive suite of banking, payments, wealth management, and risk management products and services. Huntington operates 968 branches in 13 states, with certain businesses operating in extended geographies. Visit Huntington.com for more information.