February 20, 2008

News Release

Goddard Elected to State Wide Office

Larry Goddard, Executive Director of the Tyler Independent School District Foundation, has been elected as the Texas School Public Relations Association (TSPRA) education foundation division Chair-Elect.   He will be installed, along with the executive committee, at the organization’s annual conference scheduled for February 16^th through 20^th in Houston.

TSPRA has over 850 members across the state involved with public school district communications, public relations, marketing and other outreach functions, such as education foundations.  He was elected by a state-wide election from the Texas membership. 

“TSPRA is very fortunate to have Larry Goddard as a member. He is a dependable , responsible and a personable team member, “ said current chair Karolyn Gephart of Friendswood ISD. “Having him as Education Foundation Chair-Elect means we are heading in the right direction with this division and focusing on a successful future. We welcome his participation and feel honored he has accepted this job.”

Goddard was named Executive Director of the Tyler ISD Foundation in April 2006.  He had previously served as Associate Vice President—Development at Texas A&M University-Commerce for 15 years as well as Assistant to the Vice President-Marketing and Assistant Provost-Special Programs (Teacher Certification Recruitment).   Goddard will serve as TSPRA education foundation Chair Elect in 2008 and Chair in 2009

“Since Mr. Goddard was named as Executive Director, the Tyler ISD Foundation has restructured from its strong base and created an even stronger support for our District,” said Angela Jenkins, Director of Tyler ISD Communications and Public Relations.  “Mr. Goddard, with the strong support of his board of directors and the Tyler ISD administrators has created a valuable partnership for our District.”  Jenkins is also a member of TSPRA.

According to Goddard, the current surge of growth for education foundations in support of public school districts will continue to be a definite trend in Texas.  Many school districts across the state are currently creating education foundations.

“We are fortunate in Tyler that the founder’s of our education foundation saw this as a viable need 17 years ago,” he said. “We have a strong base of support and have built on that to have the huge successes we have seen in the past year.”

“One of the first activities that I have been involved in with the TSPRA assignment is bringing a director to director conference of public school district education foundations to Tyler which will occur May 13^th at the Rose Garden Center,” said Goddard.   School districts across the north and east Texas region are invited.

“There was a great deal of growth in private donations for universities in the 1980’s; a growth in donations for junior and community colleges in the 1990’s.  This decade is the growth of donations from the private sector to public school districts.  Our region of Texas has many school districts without non-profit foundations raising funds for their support and need help in establishing education foundations.”

Goddard has had two articles published in The Source, a state-wide newsletter for education foundations.  He has presented sessions on the state and national level.

Goddard and his family live in Tyler.  He is a member of the Sister City Board of Directors, Leadership Tyler Class 20, and the Industrial Development Corporation Board of Directors for the City of Tyler. He holds two degrees from Texas A&M-Commerce and serves on the University’s Alumni Association Board of Directors.

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