The Royal Education Foundation hosted its annual Ice Cream Social on September 21. The event serves as a fundraiser for the organization, and includes “celebrity scoopers”, a silent auction, entertainment, and an announcement of the Foundation’s grant recipients. Foundation President LaRay Odum stated, "I am so honored to serve as President of the Royal ISD Education Foundation. Our mission as a charity is to provide resources to enrich, expand, and enhance opportunities within Royal ISD by supplying funds to underfunded programs within the district. After having to cancel last year's ice cream social due to the pandemic, we decided to tie our grant award notifications to the event this year. It was very exciting to see the joy and excitement in the teachers’ faces as their names were called. We are lucky to have great support from the community! We have various groups from the district perform at the event every year and always have several student volunteers helping us out. It's also a tradition that every year we have 10-12 "celebrity" scoopers that come out to serve our ice cream and compete for a small prize for the one that earns the most tips. It creates a fun, slightly competitive environment that benefits the foundation."
The Foundation announced 14 grant winners totaling over $41,500: Gary Miller, 1st Sgt Bland, Sherlyn Baxley, Paige Stanley, Jillian Pike, Amy Laxton, Andrea Villatoro, Raymond, Callies, Brandon Hein, Roderick Davenport, Clare Morgan, Lilia Brents, Mabely Lituma-Rodas, and the 1st grade teachers from ECC ( Lilia Brents, Beatriz Rojas, Sara Sanches, Nasra Nofal, Heather Bozeman, Kelsey Nelon, Luz Diaz, and Ashley Brandes).
Grant recipient Clare Morgan, RJH teacher, stated, “The Foundation provides not only funds for classroom resources, like high interest and topical novels, but it also funds the purchase of tickets to see world class performances at the Alley Theatre which is a first for many of our students. When I told my students they would be seeing a play at the Alley, the cheers of joy and excitement brought a huge smile to my face, all thanks to the generosity of donors and contributions to the Foundation. Overall, the Foundation is such a blessing to our community and provides for the "extras" that make learning fun."
Thank you to all who volunteered and attended this event, and thank you to the Foundation for helping our Falcons soar!
