Spring is in the air! This is my favorite time of year as it feels so refreshing with all the new growth and longer hours of daylight. It has also been refreshing to work together with our committee planning an event where our guests can gather in person and virtually. As we all know, our teachers and educators are working tirelessly and harder than ever before. We must continue to nurture our community of supporters in our best efforts to shower our teachers, students, and programs with resources to blossom at their full potential.
Our Together Again: A Night of Inspiration is on March 31st and will be held at the beautiful Still Waters Ranch. Our media sponsor is Texas First Bank. This fundraiser supports an array of programs: Tribe’s Closet, The Reading Tree Program, STEM, Grants for Great Ideas, Classroom Wish Lists, and Summer Programs. Just this past November, we awarded 33 grants across our 5 campuses totaling nearly $82,000! That was the largest amount awarded in one grant cycle and made possible because of the money we raised from our gala, skeet shoot, and other fundraisers in 2021.
Just last month, we purchased a book/STEM bus! During the school year, the bus will be reserved by campuses for remote, hands-on learning opportunities and STEM experiences, with STEM related books available for checkout. During the summer months, it will transition to more of a mobile library, making scheduled rounds throughout our District. Last month, we had an artwork and naming contest for students to submit their art ideas and naming ideas for the bus. We have taken those submissions, narrowed them down, and are working on a custom wrap for the bus. It will be unveiled leading into our mini-grants portion of the evening that will allow us to raise money to purchase the materials, STEM activities, shelving, books, and more. We are expecting the bus to be rolling this fall. The bus will have heat and air conditioning for temperature control and comfort, and it will feature a wheelchair lift to be accessible for all students. We foresee this mobile learning laboratory to be a spectacle for the community and to bring excitement for all when it is making its way around town. This project has been a great collaboration between many departments in Santa Fe ISD and is made possible thanks to the generous support of our donors!
“I just want to thank our generous community for the support we have received thus far. It is inspiring to see our local businesses, community, and individuals understand the magnitude of an event like this and rally behind us to make it as successful as possible. I just can’t thank every single one enough for their generosity.”
I invite you to support our Foundation and to learn more about our mission and work. Please follow us on social media @sftxef and visit www.santafetxedfoundation.org. For more information, you can email me at Gina.Welsh@sfisd.org or call me at 409.925.9080.
