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FUNDING OUR FUTURE
When Mark Penny arrived in the Lincoln County R-III School District, he was impressed with the variety of programs and activities, awed by the size of the student body and amazed with the number of campuses and their impeccable appearance. But after initial glances, he noticed something missing in his new community. Since the summer of 2012, approximately 30 community volunteers have worked to not only achieve the non-pro?t status, but to adopt policies and bylaws, create programming in alignment with the district?s Strategic Plan, outline rubrics for awarding grants and educate the public on the mission of the Education Foundation. Foundation president Tracy Black, a mother of two R-III students said the mission is simple. "We will be the leading nonpro?t continually supporting educational excellence in the Lincoln County R-III School District,” she said. "We have a great group of diverse talents among us with one thing in common. We love our community and are determined to ensure its prosperity in the future." The group of volunteers believes by inspiring young students to dream big and supplying those students with a litany of tools and resources to enrich their education the community will bene?t in the long run. private companies require a 501 (3)c status just to apply. Never again will the Lincoln County R-III School District miss out on grant opportunities,” Penny a?rmed.
ur future r
EMPOWER INVEST SUCCEED
paired with the resources of our foundation, will create college and career ready students. In turn, families will want to come here to raise their kids and businesses will want to hire our students,” Black said. She along with her 30-member group believes building the foundation is a grassroots e?ort to economic development in our community. Local business owners Tom and Toni Castor couldn't agree more with the sentiment. They invested $10,000 to become gold level founding donors in the foundation. They have never had kids in the R-III district, but see the advantages of investing in the future. businesses and large businesses should look at helping to fund the foundation, so they can reap the bene?ts of well-educated employees in the future," Tom Castor said. According to Black, the Education Foundation volunteers are working tirelessly to achieve lofty goals.
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Enhance life skills and instructional experiences through technology such as one-to-one (one tablet/per student)
"I think that all small businesses, medium size
INSTRUCTI
"I wondered how a district of this size went so long without one," he said. Superintendent Penny is referring to the existence of an education foundation, which is a non-pro?t agency that supports items and programs above and beyond the taxbased budget. "Given all of the cuts to education over the last decade or more, I was surprised one wasn?t in place," he said. With the blessing of the Board of Education, Penny made it his mission to establish an education foundation in the R-III District. Just two years after his arrival, the Lincoln County R-III Education Foundation is now a functioning 501 (3)c. Establishing an education foundation opens many doors for the R-III District and those wishing to make contributions to further the cause. School districts cannot be a 501 (3)c, which makes donations to any school district not tax deductible to any donor or potential donors. The Lincoln County R-III Education Foundation eliminates that issue as well as paves the way for many grant opportunities.
“We have a goal to raise $400,000 in the ?rst two years of our existence,” Black said. The Education Foundation awarded their ?rst grants in Au 2013 in the areas of technology, student enrichment and instructional initiatives. “We have lofty goals, but we have a Five Year Plan and students that deserve every opportunity to succeed and be inspired.”
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educational development and enrichment of students by supporting items above and beyond the classroom (NASA space camp), ?eld trips or co-curricular needs
HMENT RIC EN Enhance the
“Many times grants funded through
CAREER &
"When these students are inspired to learn, in and outside of the classroom, a dream will begin for each of them. The R-III District,
FOUNDATION MEMBERS AND DISTRICT EMPLOYEES WORKED TOGETHER TO IDENTIFY THE HIGHEST AREAS OF