It’s always exciting for Gara Hill to read the grant applications from Arlington ISD teachers.
In her role as the president of the Arlington ISD Education Foundation, she often gets to see the creative ideas that the school district’s teachers have for helping the students they serve.
“These teachers are dreaming big, thinking outside the box, and really looking at ways to make education mean something for these kids,” Hill said. “Light a fire, help find a passion. So it’s such a fun mission to be able to fundraise for (them).”
The Arlington ISD Education Foundation was founded in 1994 and serves the city’s school district through program funding. While the nonprofit is fully separate from Arlington ISD, the group supports the growth of students in the city by fundraising and providing grants to the school district.
Hill said the work is the most impactful she has seen in the nonprofit world.
“There’s truly none like this in our community that leaves you with such actual tangible impact and benefit,” she added.
Each of the over 450 education foundations statewide are able to choose what they want to fund in their respective districts, said Arlington ISD Board of Trustee Justin Chapa.
The Arlington foundation’s bread and butter, Hill said, is teacher grants. Educators are able to apply for up to $10,000, and the foundation allocated almost $250,000 in funding last year. Grant recipients use the funding for a range of supportive services, ranging from stationary bicycles to virtual reality equipment.
The organization raises money from industrial leaders like Bell Textron and General Motors that would benefit from stronger student pipelines, Hill said. The foundation also works with medical and banking institutions as well as civic organizations.
“If your business wants to thrive, you want the strongest community that can be achieved, and we do that by supporting public education,” Hill said.
Prior to his appointment to the Arlington ISD Board of Trustees, Chapa served on the education foundation board. When he started at the foundation in early 2014, the nonprofit was experiencing a leadership transition and was in the rebuilding phase, he said.
Over the years, Chapa said, the foundation’s donor base grew.
“Since 2014, I think the foundation has each year given away more and more in grants because it’s been able to become more financially sustainable,” he said.
Through teacher grants, there is more stability and better long-term positive effects than with student scholarship funding alone, Chapa said. Many education foundations grant student scholarships and other funding opportunities, but those are often short-lived and, generally, have an impact on fewer students, he added.
Hill also noted that students are often proud of teachers who receive funding.
The foundation looks at each grant application through a rubric, which focuses on the number of kids impacted, the ability to track that impact and sustainability. Hill noted that although the rubric previously shifted from year to year, she believes the current structure is well set up.
Hill said she finds her work with the foundation deeply rewarding.
“This is one of my favorite boards that I’ve ever been on, and something that I see myself being involved with long after my kids have left the district because my belief in public education is so strong that this feels like the best and easiest way to make sure that the community is doing their part to help the students in Arlington,” she said.
Ismael M. Belkoura is the nonprofit editor for the Fort Worth Report. His position is supported by a grant from North Texas Community Foundation. Contact him at ismael.belkoura@fortworthreport.org.
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