November 12, 2007

Press Release

Tyler ISD Foundation Seeks Named Honoree Grants for Teachers

The Tyler Independent School District Foundation wants to honor area citizens and businesses by providing classroom incentive grants named for local honorees.

Since its inception in 1990, the Tyler ISD Foundation has provided grants to deserving teachers, teams of teachers, or campus projects each year.  During the current “I Love Tyler ISD” campaign, personalized gifts to the classroom can be created by contributing to the Named Grant Honoree Program.

“This program consists of donors providing a $1200 gift to the Tyler ISD Foundation.  The donor honors anyone they wish in the community, their own business, or their service club by naming the grant in their honor,” said Larry Goddard, Executive Director of the Tyler ISD Foundation.

“So often, a donor may feel that their charitable gift is lost in the mix,” says Goddard, “The named grant program allows the donor to know exactly where their contribution was used, by which teacher, and the exact classroom of students who benefited from the donation, “said Goddard.  “This way, the donor is connected to the beneficiary of the donation and it helps us show our students that generous donors in the community care about their education.”

The selection of the grant is made through an objective and competitive process with a grants selection committee made up of community members, Foundation Board of Directors and curriculum experts.

Providing teacher grants is just one of the many functions of the Tyler ISD Foundation.

“Nationally, we are seeing tremendous growth in donations to public school education foundations,” Goddard said.  “The trend is to fund programs for student success, events for the district, and scholarships for graduating seniors and classroom incentive grants for teachers.”

One of the features of providing a named grant is that the donors are invited to visit the classroom when the program is in full operation, meet the teachers and students, and interact to determine the outcomes of the project.

Chris Jones, local branch manager for East Texas Professional Credit Union, is an advocate for the Named Grant Honoree Program.  His company has participated for the past two academic years and plans to again participate.

 “I cannot think of a better way to get involved in the lives of our school children than being a named grant donor. Just seeing the reactions and willingness to learn on kid’s faces is contagious, “Jones stated.

 “Because of the grant, these kids were able to do special projects that they would not normally be able to do because of funding issues. I would definitely encourage local businesses to donate to the Named Grant program. There is not a better feeling than seeing kids enjoy learning and working hand in hand with other children in their class with the guidance from top teachers,” said Jones.

Contact the Tyler ISD Foundation, P.O. Box 2035, Tyler, Texas 75710 or email foundation@tylerisd.org for more information.

Kaye Kraus Tyler ISD TARGET Teacher

Chris Jones, Branch Manager, East Texas Professional Credit Union, Tyler

Elisabeth Hughey , Marketing Coordinator, East Texas Professional Credit Union, Tyler