STEM education oftentimes requires an array of expensive equipment that schools simply cannot afford or maintain. A result of two years of meetings, fundraising, and a lot of love, the Santa Fe TX Education Foundation presented a check to Santa Fe ISD for $233,278 during February’s monthly Board of Trustees meeting. These funds were raised from the many community events we participated in to grow awareness of the project, from the Rally ‘Round the Bus event in September, and from the many grant proposals written over the course of these two years.
What began as an initial meeting around the table in the Foundation office in January 2021, is now coming to fruition. Santa Fe ISD can now retrofit the 40’ school bus, purchased by the Foundation in the spring of 2022, into a mobile book and STEM laboratory, called the Indian Innovation Lab. This mobile learning laboratory will help to bring engaging, innovative, and interactive STEM education and literacy to our school and near our students’ homes.These will be used to enhance the interior, and the Foundation and its donors are eager to see the end result! An incredible wrap has been designed and is nearing completion with donor logos and names adorned on the back, including the Valero Benefit for Children, Kathleen Cailloux Family Foundation, The McDowell Family, HEB Tournament of Champions, Gladys & Raymond Haak, Marathon, AMOCO Federal Credit Union, College of the Mainland, Texas First Bank, INEOS Olefins & Polymers USA (Chocolate Bayou Site), and the Santa Fe TX Education Foundation to name a few.
