TYLER, Jan. 28, 2012--The results of donations to the Tyler ISD Foundation for its annual community campaign keep surprising even those closest to the campaign.  With about a month remaining in the campaign, the development board of 28 directors has raised $215,324 as of last week. Announced Gay Smith, Austin Bank location President and 2011-2012 Campaign Chair for the Foundation.
 
The final amount will be unveiled Wednesday, February 29th at Owens Elementary with Linda Payne, principal, hosting.  The board directors will also be drawing names for at least two Ipad2’s for employees who donated at least $10 to the campaign.  Over 150 employees have donated about $7,500 to the campaign goal.
 
“Our unique campaign for employees asking for a minimum of $10 helps the employees ‘buy into’ our mission of inspiring learning, enriching teaching and enhancing opportunities for District students,” explained Mrs. Smith, a longtime Foundation board volunteer, director, former treasurer and current Vice President of Development. “We are forever indebted to Mr. Cecil McDaniel, deputy superintendent, who created the idea which focuses more on inclusion of employees’ donations rather than amounts.”  The program is now being emulated in all 50 states and hundreds of school districts.
 
Donations to the community campaign help advocate outstanding teachers with innovative ideas outside the mandated, standardized testing curricula. Ideas from solar energy, teaching parents about ITunes and other electronic processes at night, robotics competitions, early childhood reading, and displaying artwork in pediatric wings of local hospitals…the list of ideas is impressive.
 
“It’s most likely the best activity any of us with the Foundation Board of Directors will ever accomplish in our lives—believing in the classroom teachers and their creative ideas that they would like for their students to experience,” said Dr. Larry Goddard, executive director of the regionally, state, national and recently internationally-recognized education foundation.  “Our donors provide us with funding and we have the responsibility of being the best stewards of their investment in Tyler ISD to place money/additional budgeting for programs which help enhance our students’ experiences not only in the classroom but in their lives.”
 
Other donations will go toward recognition of outstanding teachers with the May 8th Teacher of the Year Banquet, organized by the Tyler ISD Communications/Public Relations Department.  Laura Jackson, newly-hired director of the program has been a close partner with the Foundation during the campaign process.  Tuesday, April 17th, the Foundation board will host the top twenty graduates from both high schools, the teachers they designate as the most positive influential in not only their academic successes but their lives.  Parents, family members, church family members all attend at Caldwell Auditorium for what Smith describes as “one of, if not the best, thing we do for Tyler ISD, the students, teachers and families.” 
 
The event has won countless awards for the overall event, the theme, the marketing, the graphic design and the value of community awareness of positive stories from public school classrooms.
 
“Our twenty-eight member board directors are all active in development/fundraising activities—they are not a policy-making board but are responsible for asking their contacts in Tyler for contributions,” explained Goddard. “Directors give donations, get donations, or leave the board—simple as that.  We are realizing that tax dollars are not unlimited—and they should not be.  Education is usually the first area cut when balancing federal or state budgets, which means that more of us in our community need to be more involved in the education processes—public school enrollment nationally is 95% of our youth and about 91% in Tyler,” Dr. Goddard continued. 
 
“No matter what variety of education we chose for our own children—home schooling, private, faith based, or now online high school diplomas, we all have a vital vested interest in the providing the best public schools for our area youth in Tyler,” said Goddard.  Goddard has served as Texas School Public Relations Association (TSPRA) chair of the education foundation division; was the first person in America certified by the National School Foundation Association (NSFA); certified by the Association of Fund Raising Executives (CFRE International and was recently trained in an exclusive selection of international experts for fundraising.  In 2010, he was named Key Communicator which is the top award for Texas educators in public speaking.  In 2008, he was named the East Texas Council of Government’s Citizen of the Year due to the progressive education fundraising for East Texas.
 
Goddard has recently been appointed to the National Service Commission by Governor Rick Perry. This is the second appointment by Texas Governor Rick Perry for Goddard this year, following his appointment to the federal government and faith based OneStar Foundation. Goddard is considered a vital administrative and advisory staff member of the Governor's office.  Goddard was immediately elected assistant vice president for financials and oversees a multiple million dollar budget as a volunteer of the governor’s administrative and advisory staff.
 
The Tyler ISD Foundation has won best foundation honors in the state of Texas for the past three years and the best national education foundation for the past two years.  In 2006, when Goddard was hired, there were 87 donors to the Foundation; today over 3,600 donors of record exists.  Donations have increased 22 fold—not 22 percent but 22 times the amount of donations.  Goddard has won awards for writing, educational public relations marketing, events, campaigns, training, and motivational speaking.
 
Donors are desperately needed according to Goddard and Smith for the following areas:
 
A Night of Shining Stars—honoring top graduates and influential educators.
 
Teacher of the Year—a morale boosting gala to celebrate valued educators in elementary and secondary levels.  The recipients are then involved in state wide and national competitions.
 
 Retirement Reception.  “We need to provide a wonderful thank you to those individuals who have dedicated their lives to providing generations of students with the most important gift we can give them:  an outstanding education,” said Goddard.  “We need donations of any amounts and noncash gifts in kind for gift baskets to these incredibly wonderful educators.”
 
 Area of Greatest Need. “The most difficult donation which has the most impact are donations which help us pay our office expenses, salaries, investment in the enterprise and lead to a larger capacity building in the future fundraising efforts, “explained Smith. “Dollars donated to our office expenses help us to reach out to more donors and alumni and build our assets/endowments/scholarships/and grants for teachers, teams of teachers, campus and district innovative programs.”
 
19th Annual Gil Hitt Memorial Golf  Tournament—“We are searching now for underwriters for the golf tournament scheduled for Monday, November 5th now—not only do we honor a legend in Tyler education—former school board president Gil Hitt, but we pay fitting tribute to him by added essential discretionary dollars to the District’s available budget,” explained Goddard.
 
“We need donations immediately of any amount—we processed some $5 buck donations today and are so very grateful for those contributions,” explained Dr. Goddard. “Please send your check, with any designation today to Tyler ISD Foundation, 315 North Broadway, Suite 401, Tyler, Texas 75702-5757, or to the Tyler ISD Foundation c/o Tyler ISD Administration Building, 1319 New Sunnybrook Avenue, Tyler, Texas 75701 or by emailing Larry.Goddard@suddenlinkmail.com  The Foundation accepts checks, cash, VISA, MasterCard and has started accepting non-cash gifts in kind related to the history of Tyler ISD. 
 
“Our goal is to create an alumni visitors center in the Blackstone Building for visiting alumni especially during reunions—we are seeking visual display items for glass cases with great protection—class rings, letter jackets, trophies—not paper archive items, but yearbooks and uniforms, desks, old computers—not homework or art projects, but items which represent many of our alumni!  Hey, I’m looking for a paddle but can’t find one!”
 
“We want so badly to reach our goal and we need only $35,000 to make it—but we also need designated gifts to our events.  I’m sure everyone agrees that our students are worthy of the investment,” concluded Goddard. 
 
The official campaign results will be unveiled Wednesday, February 29th at 11:30 a.m. at Owens Elementary School with Linda Payne, Principal, hosting the meeting.  She will also be pulling the winner’s name from the employee donors’ names for at least one Ipad2.