Mission

The Ed Temple Fund was established as a tribute to this American hero and to extend the vision Coach Temple instilled in the Tigerbelles far into the future. His inspiring legacy will live on for generations to come through this unique partnership with New Hope Academy.

The Ed Temple Fund provides scholarships for boys and girls from low-income families, enabling them to attend New Hope Academy and have an educational experience that will empower them to reach their full potential both in academics and in life. Students at New Hope Academy carry on the legacy of Coach Temple as they learn the character skills he embodied and taught at TSU—unstoppable determination, unrelenting focus, and unshakable hope.

"Never in my life have I endorsed or lent my name to anything. Not until now. I am honored to leave my legacy through the Ed Temple Fund at New Hope Academy. It is my heartfelt belief that New Hope Academy is building the champions of tomorrow. I am not speaking about athletics, but about champions of character, of contribution, and of leadership.

New Hope Academy believes that education offers the path to a better life for its students in the same way I did while coaching the Tigerbelles. The Ed Temple Fund will enable students from low-income families to receive an excellent, private education that promises to open doors to a bright future. The young men and women who graduate from New Hope Academy go on to change their communities in remarkable ways wherever they go. They are truly the heroes of tomorrow.

I encourage you to take a few minutes and consider investing with me in this incredible school that I believe is changing the world one child at a time."

The Partnership Between Coach Ed Temple and New Hope Academy

The seeds for an Ed Temple/New Hope Academy partnership were planted when Nashville businessman Christie Hauck began to learn about the Ed Temple story in 2008. As Christie says, “This is the greatest story never told.”

Christie first met Coach Temple at a lunch arranged by his friend and former vice mayor of Nashville Howard Gentry at Nashville landmark Swett’s Restaurant near the TSU campus. Also attending that first meeting were New Hope Academy founder Paige Pitts, Headmaster Stuart Tutler, and social entrepreneur Susan Smallwood. After meeting Coach Temple, Christie, Stuart, Paige, and Susan were convinced that the story of this unsung hero must be told to a new generation.

In the months that followed, Coach Temple shared stirring accounts of his life firsthand with the group from Swett’s Restaurant. A friendship between the four was galvanized. It became apparent that his coaching philosophy and his life’s story served as an inspiration and road map for the education model at New Hope Academy.

As time went on, Coach Temple had the opportunity to visit New Hope, along with several of the Tigerbelles, and as he says, “There was so much of me in New Hope Academy.” In early 2009 he determined to pass on his legacy to future generations through New Hope Academy. In turn, New Hope Academy purposed to introduce its students to the Coach Temple story, knowing that it would challenge them to overcome adversity and inspire them to see life through the lens of possibility.

It was with great joy on the part of both Coach Temple and New Hope Academy that the Ed Temple Fund was established in the spring of 2009.