Assistant vice president of programs at TMCF Jacqueline Powers, chairman and CEO of Hendrick Automotive Group Rick Hendrick, and CEO of Barrett-Jackson world famous auto auction Craig Jackson give remarks to the HISTORY channel after the winning bid of $1 million was made. Press play to watch.
Barrett-Jackson is the world’s largest collector car auction and they recently auctioned off one of the most highly anticipated Corvettes for $1 million during the company’s 2022 West Palm Beach, FL Auction, held April 7-9.
The first retail production 2023 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 Convertible crossed the world-famous auction block on Saturday, April 9, at approximately 4:30 p.m. ET and was broadcasted live on The HISTORY Channel. All proceeds are going to benefit the Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF), the nation’s largest organization exclusively representing Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Predominantly Black Institutions (PBIs). The winning bid raised $1 million for the TMCF’s Teacher Quality Retention Program (TQRP), a hands-on training initiative that helps pre-service and aspiring K-12 educators develop their pedagogical skills while equipping them to succeed in challenging teaching environments. Graduates of TQRP become the next generation of future leaders who possess a passion for teaching in high-need communities. To date, TQRP fellows have impacted over 31,000 K-12 students in high-need, urban and rural areas.
Representatives from TMCF were in attendance during the auction and were excited about the possibilities of raising millions of dollars for the organization. Jacqueline Powers, assistant vice president of programs at TMCF had this to say about the partnership, “We provide access to career paths, leadership development, economic development, but most importantly, we provide scholarships. That’s what unites us in this partnership with GM and Barrett-Jackson. One hundred percent of the proceeds are actually going to benefit TMCF students, and we serve about 300,000 students nationwide.”
Teacher Tarvis Ridges is a previous scholarship recipient of TMCF’s Teacher Quality Retention Program and recently won Teacher of the Year through the program. Ridges was happy to share his experience with rolling out. “It has been life changing. Being able to take all the skills I learned at TQRP back to my school and impart them into my students is what allowed me to become Teacher of the Year. I took what I knew and passed it on to them.”
Car auction chairman and CEO Craig Jackson addressed the crowd ahead of the auction. When asked why it was important to give back to charities such as TCMF, he said “We started as a charity car show. We’ve given to charity our entire lives. We’re blessed to be able to sell these low vin production number vehicles and donate it all to charity. We adapt to what we want to work on with the OEMs (original equipment manufacturer) and our other charitable partners for what we focus on.”
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