FUNDING & FINANCE
PEF Awards
Educator Grants T
THE GIVING NATURE OF THIS COMMUNITY HELPED TO RAISE $115,000 DURING THIS YEAR’S NORTH TEXAS GIVING DAY.
he Prosper Education Foundation (PEF) has had an eventful start to the 2021-2022 school year. The organization provides support to Prosper ISD in the way of student scholarships, teacher grants, teacher recognitions, staff development, and more. The organization is sustained based upon raising funds through donations and fundraisers like the Annual PEF Golf Tournament. One of the largest fundraisers of the year for PEF is North Texas Giving Day. With match donations from corporate sponsors CoServ, Huckabee Inc., Park Place Lexus, Welch HVAC, and Pogue Construction, the community of Prosper raised $115,000 this year. This is an increase from last year’s all time high of $62,000. PEF Executive Director Elizabeth Johnston was amazed at the “very generous giving from the heart” of the Prosper community and is excited at how these funds will help to “make sure every possible student opportunity needed in Prosper ISD is a reality. Those funds will help PEF make that happen!” Beginning in September, teachers,
counselors, and librarians were able to apply for classroom, department, or campus grants. This year there were 104 applications. On Tuesday, October 26th, the PEF Prize Patrol made their rounds to EVERY campus in the district awarding 44 grants to the sum of more than $68,000. Many of the grants were for amounts over $1000 benefiting entire departments or campuses impacting far more students with each grant given. The PEF Board and Johnston are committed to supporting learning through grants for innovative learning. Johnston said that “Supporting Prosper ISD teachers is not just important, it’s vital. Providing resources and equipping teachers inspires them to teach at the highest level and impacts student learning through creative ideas which fosters a supportive atmosphere where teachers want to come to work.” PEF will award thousands of dollars in scholarships to the Class of 2022 in May. For more information on how you can get involved to volunteer or donate to PEF, go to prospereducationfoundation.org. HIGHLIGHTS MAGAZINE | 33
