The Chloe’ Vignes Legacy Teacher Grant

Supporting the teachers of Gulf Breeze, in honor of one of their own.

Her story

Chloe’ Vignes knew her whole life that she wanted to be a teacher, and her focus never wavered. After she earned her master’s in education, she began teaching 5th grade at Gulf Breeze Elementary. It was her dream job; one she held for twenty-two years and was heartbroken to leave.

For all those years, she did what the very best teachers do: she showed up for other people’s children as if they were her own. She taught them to read closely, think for themselves, and treat one another with kindness. Class after class of Dolphins passed through her room, and every one of them carried a piece of her with them when they left.

Along the way, Chloe’ was named Gulf Breeze Elementary’s Teacher of the Year and a Santa Rosa County Teacher of the Year semifinalist. Her school honored her with the Dolphin Legacy Award, given to a teacher whose love, dedication, and impact will forever be part of the 5th grade family. The award said it plainly: she made waves in lives over the years. Giving was never something she did only in the classroom, either. She helped orchestrate the annual Witches Ride for the Rally Foundation and gave her time to the Sacred Heart NICU Reunion and Preemie Cup, always finding one more way to show up for her community and honor those she loved.

Chloe’ lived a full and active life, always out in nature, whether toes in the sand at the beach, walking her dog on Shoreline, riding bikes or traveling with her family. She made every day an opportunity to do something refreshing. For eight years, she privately battled an autoimmune disease, primary sclerosing cholangitis. It led to cholangiocarcinoma, a rare and aggressive cancer, and chemotherapy and surgeries gave her another intentional year of life. When teachers take off their capes, they are human too. These were the quiet tests Chloe’ met with the same grace she brought to her classroom every day.

Why this fund exists

When friends and family asked where to give support to the Vignes family, Beau made a decision rooted in Chloe’s values. As her husband and the father of their three children, he asked that gifts go not to their own family, but to the teachers of Gulf Breeze. No one understands better than a teacher how much teachers give out of their own pockets and their own hearts, and how rarely it comes back to them.

Established in Chloe’s honor, the fund will carry her name and her generosity forward for years to come.

What she valued

Chloe’ taught from a clear set of values, and this grant is meant to carry them forward:

Reading · Literacy · History · Self-responsibility · Encouragement · Kindness · Organization · Nature · Fun · Grace for others

What the grant does

Teachers spend their own money on their classrooms far more often than anyone realizes. The rooms our children learn in, and the materials that bring lessons to life, are so often funded out of a teacher’s own pocket.

Chloe’s classroom was proof of what that kind of devotion can create. Her room held artifacts, fossils, minerals and geodes, shipwreck memorabilia, and pieces that celebrated Indigenous peoples, much of it inherited from her father, alongside shelves and shelves of books. She used it all to tell the stories behind what her students were reading, turning her classroom into an interactive world that made them curious about the one outside it.

Each grant is awarded to a Gulf Breeze teacher to use in that same spirit, for whatever helps them show up fully for their students. Priority is given to teachers at Gulf Breeze Elementary, where Chloe’ spent her career, with remaining funds open to teachers across the Gulf Breeze School system.

The vision

The hope behind this fund is bigger than any single classroom. It is that teachers reconnect with the values that called them to this work, to show up each day inspired and intentional with the time they have. Every moment a teacher spends with a child is pivotal. It leaves an imprint that outlasts the lesson.

Dolphins, make your waves.

How you can help

Every gift, in any amount, helps a teacher keep doing the work Chloe’ loved. Please give in her honor, and share her story with anyone who believes in teachers.

The Chloe’ Vignes Legacy Teacher Grant

Honoring her legacy through education