Franklin Education Connection

05/19/2026

05/19/2026

Each year FEC awards three Branigin Foundation Senior Project Scholarships. We prioritize applications where the project has strong community impact and original project ideas coupled with GPA and extra-curricular involvement or work history.

Last night we presented scholarships to this year’s winners at The FCHS Senior Awards Program. Congratulations to Emilee Lytle, Addison Martin and Alexander Myers! We are proud of you, and excited for your future at your respective universities! Special thanks to the Branigin Foundation for funding these scholarships.

05/15/2026

Heartfelt thanks to Beau Jackson, Managing Director, Modern Woodmen of America and Michelle Badolato for treating the Johnson Co. Education Foundation Directors to a delicious breakfast at Antilogy yesterday.

We are fortunate to live in a community that values partnership and collaboration, and has outstanding community partners like Modern Woodmen of America - who was also the primary sponsor for the incredible Glitter and Gratitude Gala for non-profit leaders.

Thanks also for the beautiful peony bouquets from Hattie Lou Blooms. They are gorgeous and we are certainly enjoying them!

We missed you Jenny Zahm and Sarabeth. Next time!

05/12/2026

Please join us in thanking FEC Board Member, Tina Jobe on her 13 years of dedicated service and upcoming retirement!

Tina Jobe's involvement with Study Connection began in 2012 as a study buddy at Webb. After that first year, she moved from her role as a buddy to a board member where she has played an integral role in the organization ever since. Her tenure with SC included several years as the Study Connection Chair and many years of serving on the executive board of Franklin Education Connection. She even served as FEC President for a brief stint before accepting the Chief Financial Officer position for FCS.

When she left her post as President of Ivy Tech, Tina entered the unique position of being the CFO for Franklin Community Schools in addition to serving on the FEC Board. This truly allowed for an even greater opportunity for us to collaborate with the school district. She wrote many successful grant proposals to the Branigin Foundation, combining requests for district needs as well as those of FEC.

In addition, she kept a pulse on the students themselves by mentoring for 8 years for FCHS First Scholars, working 4 years each with 2 different students - assisting them both with post-graduation plans for technical school and college respectively.
Tina has been an excellent board member!

Our Executive Director, Melissa Parramore, personally appreciates the times that she assisted her with some challenging situations with Study Connection. "She was someone we could rely on to volunteer and someone I could depend on for sound advice and problem-solving - especially during her Study Connection chair days."

She’s devoted several years of her life to Franklin Education Connection and will be greatly missed! Tina is also retiring from FCS. We hope her retirement days are filled with sunny days by the pool and many trips across the country to National Parks. Thank you for your service to FEC!

05/11/2026

Last but not least, we REALLY got our steps in at FCHS as we hustled all over the building thanking our Franklin Community High School teachers and staff for another excellent year. Giving them Travelin' Tom's Coffee beverages was the least we could do for these outstanding educators!

Thank you very much to Vaught Family Eye Care for sponsoring FCHS in addition to Webb and FCMS! Your generosity is INCREDIBLE!

Thanks also to our delivery team of FEC Board Members Craig Bland, Laura Mattox & Zach DeWitt as well as FCS Board Member, Jennifer Briggs-Mann! It took all of us to deliver 114 drinks!

05/11/2026

A team that often does not receive enough recognition for their critical role in our school district is our Transportation Dept. They go above and beyond everyday to transport our students safely to and from Franklin Community Schools! We are especially grateful for the extra mile they go to drive our Study Connection students to our off-campus sites as well as home after SC.

For those reasons we were thrilled to include them in our Travelin' Tom's Coffee Bars! This would not be possible without a generous sponsorship from board member Zach DeWitt. Thank you, Zach, for helping us treat this special group of employees!

05/11/2026

We ventured into Career Day at Custer Baker Intermediate School where the students were learning about careers from those in numerous different occupations. We appreciate our teachers and staff who work hard every day to prepare our Cubs for the future!

We were happy to brighten their day with Travelin' Tom's Coffee as a small token of our admiration for all that they do!

Leugers Insurance Group was the generous sponsor for CBIS. Many thanks to Eric Leugers for the sponsorship and special thanks to Jamie Green and board member, Zach DeWitt for delivering the beverages with us!

05/11/2026

The Cougars were excited to see us early Friday morning as we began Day 2 of celebrating our FCS teachers and staff with Travelin' Tom's Coffee. We’re grateful for our Creekside Elementary School, Franklin, Indiana staff and all the ways they educate and lift up our students!

Special thanks to Danielle Nicole & Terry Kinnett for sponsoring this school, and to Danielle and her kiddos for delivering drinks as well. We appreciate YOU!!

05/08/2026

Our final Thursday stop took us through the beautiful countryside to Union Elementary School. There were smiles everywhere at our district's smallest school when they received their morning boost from Travelin' Tom's Coffee! Even Mrs. McCrary continued to smile when Mr. DeWitt accidentally dumped coffee on her!

Thank you to our teachers and staff at the U for bringing their best to our students every day! Special thanks to Mattox Roofing and Restoration for sponsoring the Union Coffee Bar. Thanks also to Laura Mattox for helping deliver the beverages!