Devine Education Foundation awarded all DISD new teachers a $50 gift card to Walmart to help them with expenses of setting up a classroom.
“Certainly, we want to all DISD staff to know how much we appreciate them, and what they do for the students of this community. Our mission is to support teachers and students,” Mrs. Brenda Gardner, DEF executive director, said.
She added that the expense of setting up a new classroom is huge. All teachers spend lots of their own money, and the foundation just wanted help in a small way.
Foundation members Heather Miller and Kristi Summerlin went to each campus Thursday, August 18 to provide snacks for staff members. They also had a drawing on each campus for a DEF t-shirt and hat.
“This is just something we could do to celebrate each campus staff, and to do something a little special for them,” Miller said.
Applications for teaching grants have been sent to all staff members. After review and selection, those will be awarded in late October or early November.
The foundation also has an Amazon Smile account. Amazon will pay DEF a percentage of each purchase made through DEF’s Amazon Smile page. That URL is https://smile.amazon.com/ch/87-2366535.
“If you are an Amazon shopper, and lots of people are, and will use this site as your entry to Amazon, the foundation will receive that percentage from the company. We will certainly put it to good use helping kids and teachers,” Gardner said.