Megan Middleton: On the Scene

From financing a classroom physics project that takes a closer look at "electrostatics" to funding special evening events that make "stars" out of teachers and students, the Tyler ISD Foundation uses the community's donations to try and help TISD go a step beyond the ordinary.

"I think one of the teachers said it so well when we gave her a check for $1,000," Larry Goddard, executive director of the foundation, said of their grant program. "... She said this allowed me to dream and to provide a creative way for my students to learn."

The foundation sponsors events from the "Teacher of the Year" banquet to the academics-focused "A Night of Shining Stars" and awards donations in the form of grants to individual teachers and teams of teachers for special classroom projects as well as district-wide grants, which address issues such as emerging technology and student safety.

The foundation last week surprised teachers at their schools with a Mardi Gras-themed presentation, awarding more than $22,000 in grants to teachers at 10 campuses.

A Robert E. Lee senior who saw her teacher given a grant for a classroom project recognized the value of the award.

"She always spends a lot of her own money on buying stuff for us to make sure we learn," Clara Sisk said of her teacher, Lana Hood. "It's nice that she won't have to spend her own money on that."

This fiscal year so far, the foundation has given about $200,000 for items designated by donors and $135,000 in grants to teachers.

The foundation's "I Love Tyler ISD" fundraising campaign helps make these awards possible. That campaign, which kicked off in November, is now in its final six weeks.

Goddard said the original fundraising goal was $200,000 in unrestricted dollars, but added, "We hope to top $400,000 total - I would love to see half a million."

The campaign total will be announced March 19.

Donors have been generous this year, Goddard said.

"The level of excitement is higher this year. That in large part is due to Ross Conner, who is our campaign chairperson. He is a highly motivated type of individual," Goddard said. "He believes in the cause and gets us really fired up."

Goddard estimated that well over $2 million has been awarded to TISD since the foundation's inception in 1990.

The Tyler ISD Foundation was created by "far-sighted individuals," Goddard said.

Very few school districts currently have education foundations in East Texas, he said.

"We're probably one of the oldest education foundations in Texas," said Goddard, who was recently elected "president elect" of the Texas School Public Relations Association Education Foundation Division.

That organization is bringing a training session to Tyler in May to help educate school officials about fundraising.

"That's going to be part of everyone's job in the future," Goddard said. "Tax dollars are so limited based on the federal mandates and the state mandates, that there's not a lot of additional cash for creative and innovative projects."

In the future, Goddard would like to see the Tyler ISD Foundation collect $1 million a year for the district.

The foundation wants to reach out to alumni to help broaden the potential donor base, he said.

"We have success stories of Tyler ISD graduates all over the world, but we're not sure where they are," he said.

The foundation plans to work with a company to create a directory of the district's graduates who agree to be listed along with where they currently reside and their occupations.

"We've gone to our businesses here in our community so often that we really need to broaden our donor base," Goddard said. "We still want to continue to receive local support, but we need to look at successful alumni all over the world and how they'll donate too."

Donors to the foundation include families, businesses, restaurants, car dealerships, manufacturers and retired TISD employees.

"Anyone who feels they benefit from a good public school system, we feel are potential donors because they realize the stronger the school district, the stronger the labor pool is," Goddard said.

Some donations stand out to him, including one from a woman who attended Bonner Elementary in the 1920s and one from the family of a student who died suddenly and wanted to establish a scholarship in his name.

"It's very heartwarming to see where all the donations come from," Goddard said.

He said the foundation's client base is large - 18,000 students and their families and 2,000 employees and their families.

"We really can have an impact on a huge population," he said.

"The future of our city and the future of our region really depend on the success of our school district. It's to everyone's benefit to help support Tyler ISD."

For more information, contact the foundation at 903-262-1144 or foundation@tylerisd.org.

Megan Middleton
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