Friends Ashley Adair, Executive Director of Education Foundation and FEF President Molly Crow join The Podcast as we talk all things Education Foundation.
Friends Ashley Adair, Executive Director of Education Foundation and FEF President Molly Crow join The Podcast as we talk all things Education Foundation.
Speaker 1 Was that as an adult? Speaker 2 Junior high through high school. Speaker 3 Oh. So do you. Do you still play tennis? No, you don't. I wish I could. So there won't. Speaker 2 Allow me to anymore. Have you. Speaker 1 Heard or ever tried. Speaker 3 Pickleball? Yes. Unknown I've heard of it. I know some people play. Actually, I haven't played it. Parsons played at some summer camp. Hastings actually got. Speaker 2 Him in for pickleball, kind of before it became a cult thing. Speaker 3 Right, Right. Speaker 2 But, yeah, I have not ever played it. Speaker 1 Are you interested in trying? Speaker 2 Possibly. Speaker 1 Yeah. I have a friend. And we are. We play pickleball. Speaker 3 Huh? Speaker 1 And I'm just interested in women that would obviously tennis players. My sister in law will not play because she still plays tennis and she's afraid it's going to mess up her tennis game. But if you don't play tennis anymore and you're interested in playing, I have to give you a ring. Speaker 3 Yeah, I'm. Speaker 5 Kind of sad that I didn't get it right. Yeah, I played for one season and eighth grade, and I feel like I'm pretty good at. Speaker 3 You play. Speaker 1 Tennis? Speaker 5 Yeah. B-team doubles champs, actually. District champs. So. Wow. I know you didn't realize you're sitting in the presence of greatness at nine. Speaker 3 I thought you were all volleyball. Speaker 5 Well, mostly that's why the tennis was only the one season. But, yes, it was required for two sports. Speaker 1 That's good to know. I did not know that, Kelsey. Yeah, well, listen, today we are talking to Education Foundation. We would like to welcome executive Director Ashley Adair and President Molly Crowe to the podcast. Speaker 3 Well, hey, thanks for having us here. Yeah, I really. Speaker 1 Hate to start with this very this question. I'm sure you're asked all the time and you've had to explain a million times. But in layman's terms, we please talk to us about education, Foundation, what it is, what it does, and why it is so important for school districts to have. Speaker 6 Yeah, absolutely. So essentially, most school districts across the nation have education foundations, but all of them operate a little bit differently. Most of them are nonprofits. So they're they operate integrated with the school district, but independent and that they have their own board of directors, their own budgets, all that good stuff. But really, the purpose of why our education foundation exists is to supplement the funding that isn't available through taxes or state or federal funding to really bring those innovative and extra cherry on top opportunities to our students and teachers and friends that I see. Speaker 6 So really filling that gap to make learning more authentic. Speaker 1 So do you get or have you heard Friendswood is so like rich? Like why do they need more money than what they already have? Is that like a common misconception that you've heard. Speaker 2 All the time? Speaker 3 Yeah, sure. Speaker 1 Why? What what's the answer That I guess for people, those that are out there thinking, Wait, Friendswood has so much money, why do we need an education foundation? Speaker 2 I think a lot of it is the conception is that we are a very wealthy district and to be honest, we aren't. A lot of our funding goes to other school districts that aren't as fortunate as we are in our area and our community that is are blessed. Bless the district and even those you know, whether somebody donates $25 or 2500, we will put every penny of that to work for our students and teachers. Speaker 2 And it's a great way for people to give back to our community and to support the district. And our district does so many wonderful things for our students. And what we do is provide funding just to help those teachers take it to the next level for the kids. Speaker 1 And and you are talking about mainly grants, right? So that's how you bring it back into school districts. So let's break a grant down in detail. Speaker 6 Yeah. So grants are really the primary way that we live out our mission and provide those resources. So we start at the beginning of every school year. We challenge teachers to dream big, think outside the box. What are those tools and resources you want to bring to your classroom to either enhance a specific lesson, a specific unit, or maybe it's something you're going to use year round. Speaker 6 And so then they submit a grant application to the Education Foundation that we then different from other foundations, actually put on sale, almost kind of like online shopping for learning for the community to go in. They can filter by campus, they can look up their kid's teacher, they can find a program they're particularly passionate about and they can buy that grant knowing those exact dollars are going to that exact teacher's classroom. Speaker 6 Then at the end of the year is when the foundation comes into play, takes all the money we've raised throughout the year and we find as many as possible to bring all those to life. So that's kind of the life cycle of a grant. Speaker 1 Okay, so let's back up just a little bit. So as you said, the beginning of the year, teachers have the opportunity to did you see apply for a grant or just put in their grants? Speaker 3 Basically. Speaker 1 Okay. So what is that? If you're a new teacher or if you're a teacher that has never written a grant, they would like to write a grant. What is that? What are you looking for? I'm sure you hear like, what is it, Grant? What does it look for? You know, What are you looking for in a grant? Speaker 6 Yeah. So we go around at the beginning of the school year and kind of do like a mini kick off pep rally with all the campuses. We explain what our grants what are the purpose of grants? Maybe some examples of different grants on their campuses at the elementary level. It could be everything from math manipulatives that kiddos are putting their hands on as they're learning about fractions or multiplication all the way up to culinary and health science resources. Speaker 6 At the high school. And so really challenging teachers, whether it's your specific classroom or coming together with your team or your department, to really think, okay, here's this lesson that I want to take to the next level, or here's this group of learners that I really want to engage in a new way. Here's the resources I need to do that, to bring the learning to life for them, to give them something, to put their hands on, rather than just reading a textbook or doing a worksheet or something like that. Speaker 6 So that's kind of how that's kind of how Grant Start is explaining that. And then that application they submit with all the details for that project. Speaker 1 So then you receive all the grant applications and then what's the next step? What happens? Does that go to a committee? What what happens with with all the grants that teachers put in. Speaker 6 So we receive all the grant applications. We had over 500 submitted this year. Speaker 3 Is that normal? Is that that's. Speaker 6 Actually that's actually lower. But we did kind of revamp the grant process this year. We added some more beliefs and guidelines, kind of just putting some a little more parameters around how can we really nudge towards dreaming big and really moving towards the districts call to action. And so that led to kind of higher quality, maybe less quantity of grants. Speaker 6 And so we receive all of those. The principal calls all review those before they're submitted to the district level where they're reviewed as well, just making sure they align with the campus goals and the district goals. Right. And then the foundation takes all of them that have been approved through that process. And we put those online and then get to work doing our part, which is the fundraising, to bring them to life. Speaker 1 Okay, good. So have those been I'm just going to ask questions like, I don't have any clue what's going on. So are those out there, Can the community already log in and look to see what all they are? Speaker 2 Absolutely great. We actually went live with them on Giving Giving Tuesday, which was the Tuesday after Thanksgiving. Okay. And so our adopted grant community program is officially online. Like Ashley said earlier, if you go to our website FSD foundation dot com. Speaker 6 For a. Speaker 3 Second we just did a whole website rebrand with you guys last year. Speaker 2 So if you go to our website, there's a big button, a top that says Adopt a grant and you go on and you can search by campus by teacher. I sit there and go through every day and once they're bought it says Sold out so you can still go and read about it and multiple teachers have some of the same like for teams and things like that, that anybody can go on and purchase them. Speaker 2 They'll be on sale now through our gala in February. Speaker 3 For. Speaker 1 People to purchase. Speaker 2 Yes, for people to purchase. Speaker 1 So I'm assuming y'all really know. You said you go on and read a lot about them. Are there any that you think are super interesting or super creative that you haven't seen before, or do you tend to see the same sort of things you said your revamped the whole grant process and kind of you're challenging our teachers to come up with innovative, creative ideas, right? Speaker 1 To put back into the classroom anything stand out that is that bad to do? Like, do you feel like you're kind of spotlighting somebody and not others? Yeah. Okay. So let's talk about that. Speaker 6 So I think one of the things I notice in reviewing the grants is there's a lot more collaborative team grants this year, which gets me really excited thinking about, okay, it's so easy to just work in our silos and just be rocking and rolling, doing our own thing, but seeing teachers come together and really either do grants that they're all going to benefit from in their grade level or department or that they're gonna be able to share. Speaker 6 But one thing that comes to mind that was actually purchased the first day I'm so excited about it is not only a collaborative grant between teachers, but between teachers at two different campuses. Speaker 3 Oh, that's nice. Speaker 6 So yes, it is A Klein and Westwood teachers partnering to do a pen pal program throughout the year. So they're they have a pen pal assigned to the other class and they're learning about, you know, writing and spelling and parts of speech and all that great stuff. But they don't they don't meet their pen pal until the end of the year. Speaker 6 They will get to take a field trip to Barnes and Noble. Speaker 3 Where they will get to. Speaker 6 Pick out a book for their pen pal based on what they've learned about them throughout the year in writing their letters. So I'm pumped about that one. Speaker 3 That yeah, I. Speaker 2 Love that actually came about. We have a new program this year for Grant Champions. We have campus grant champions where the principals nominated teachers on their campus who are passionate about the grant program, who've been a beneficiary of the grant program for a number of years. And just to give a peer on the campus that the teachers can maybe come to if they're not comfortable emailing, you know, the executive director of the foundation or someone that doesn't seem to be appeared to them, they can go to them and they've been collaborating. Speaker 2 So we actually had a meeting of all the grant champions at the beginning of the year and we split them up where there was somebody from each campus and they kind of started going back and forth and seeing how that they could do that. And that grant came from that idea that day. So. Speaker 3 Oh, so really neat. Yeah, that is that's great. Speaker 1 And as we're talking and thinking, if you know our listeners think and talk about how they could get involved, obviously you had already shared that you can go on to the to the website and purchase grants. One thing I would like for people, those of you that know me know I love to think outside the box, even if it drives some people crazy or makes things more difficult. Speaker 1 But if you're listening and you think, you know, I've got a great idea to partner with a teacher for a grant, obviously reach out to Ashley or Molly and let them know if you own a business and said, Listen, I would love to donate some money, but I just I need your department, you know, hook me up with somebody that we can brainstorm possibly next year since the grants are already in of how we can make sure that comes to. Speaker 3 Light or happens. Speaker 2 What about we were talking after our student grant committee meetings. That's another kind of little area of our grants is the students that are members of our MESSING association, which is a $5 donation at the beginning of the school year. Those students make up our student grant committees and we go to every campus. And the money that is raised on that campus by the Mustang Association, the children pick out a grant for their teachers on that campus. Speaker 2 And one of the things we were looking at this next year was trying to maybe find a community partner that would match the donations on that campus for their business. So, I mean, most of our campuses range between 615 hundred dollars. So find somebody in the community that would partner and say, I will match that 1500 dollars. And then we can look at a $3,000 grant instead of a 1500 dollar grant or multiple grants, because that's one of the things we talk to about the kids is, you know what giving is and what it means to give. Speaker 2 And is it better to give one gift from $600 or, you know, five gifts or. And that's one of the process we go through. So that would be an awesome way for somebody in the community to get involved would be to partner with us to match those funds raised by the students. Speaker 5 Oh, yeah. And I've gotten to be a part of that before and it's a really, really cool thing. I especially loved at the the Little Campuses. Y'all gave Monopoly money, but you kind of want to go through like how that process works and maybe some of the ideas that have come from the student grant committees. Speaker 6 Yes. So I think student grant committees have quickly become one of our favorite days of the. Speaker 3 Year because we. Speaker 6 Get to be on the campuses, we get to share a little bit of our expertise in the nonprofit world and fundraising, and then we really get to hear from those that we serve. What do they love? What do they get excited about? And so the way that we frame it is they pick the very first grant for their campus. Speaker 6 We met with them all the Friday before Thanksgiving break grants and it go on sale to the public until the Tuesday after Thanksgiving break. So they're getting first dibs. And at the elementary level, we're talking about giving and budgeting. And if you had $400 to spend on anything for your school, what would it be? And they're counting up the monopoly money to reveal the total they have to spend. Speaker 6 And we've kind of preselected three grants around that amount for them to pick from. And they have to talk about which grant is going to help the most friends, which one is going to help us learn. Speaker 1 And they. Hold on. Wait, wait, hold on, hold on. Because I have to hear what Because people will say, here's a fallacy that happens all the time. Get a group of kids together. They can be very creative, which, listen, I've been in the education business my entire professional life. Kids can be extremely creative. They can also only know what they know. Speaker 1 And so I have to hear and it might be hard to recall what are there has to be some really funny things that. Speaker 3 They say I want the 400. Speaker 1 Dollars to go to. Like, is there anything that stands out to you that you're like. Speaker 3 Okay, well, we can do that. Speaker 6 So last year my favorite comment was. Speaker 3 We. Speaker 6 We were first asking them, okay, you get to come up with an idea. We hadn't showed them the grants yet, and we had one kiddo at Westwood that said Trampolines. He wanted a trampoline for the outdoor learning center. Speaker 1 Which I love, but that would never happen right? Speaker 3 Yeah. Yeah. Speaker 6 So, yeah, we thought we were going to catch him and we said. Speaker 3 Well. Speaker 6 Thatcher, how is that going to help you learn? And he said, It's going to help me learn about gravity, of course. Speaker 3 And in that moment I was like, This kid has got to figure it out. He's I mean, yeah, yeah. Speaker 1 Yeah. Because I would imagine I used to be a sixth grade teacher at Wayne Song. And one of the one of my favorite memories is the boy was running for president of his class and he ran on the platform. If he was going to replace all the tether balls and. And it's just that was his world. That's what they did every time they went out to recess. Speaker 1 And I could just imagine in their world, sometimes the things are so big, but yet you're like, well, hold on. How not that tether ball is not important. But I just can imagine you'll hear some really fun and funny ideas because they only have so much to pull from right now on. What's possible, What's really possible. So what a great thing that you'll go in, teach them about money, teach them about how things work and and really get their juices flowing on. Speaker 1 Know, we can be really creative with, you know, some of those slogans that already went on and happened What Yeah. Can you all share what some things are that they chose to do? Speaker 2 I know at the high school I've always been mesmerized by those kids. Every year we go because you know, your conception going in as a high school kid, you've got the band kid, the football kid, the, you know, speech and debate kid. You think that they're going to be so zeroed in on what is important to them on the campus. Speaker 2 Right. But every year they are very intentional about really looking at the whole picture of the campus. I mean, like this year, one of last year, I think it was one of the grants was for the band. And so I thought, okay, how is this going to go? And they were like, Well, you know what? The band, they support the whole school. Speaker 2 They're there for the Wrangler and they play pep rallies. They go to state. I mean, they really looked at the whole picture this year. The the high school, the grant that they funded was they're getting a dog for the kids. And one of the grants was to provide food and some things for that animal to be on the campus and the kids, every single group we had of them were very focused on this will make this group of students happy. Speaker 2 And that's a area of students that don't get a lot of attention for awards and different things like that. And they're like, We want to do this for them because this will make them happy and make them feel good. So it was a really rewarding thing to sit and watch, you know, And it I think it for them it was more fun and entertaining to make them happy than to look at buying scales or things that they want to learn and they need it, right? Speaker 2 They really wanted to do something that was going to make somebody else happy. Speaker 1 That's so nice. That's great to see. Yeah, that's great. So what's the next step in that? So we talked about teachers. They put in their applications and then you open up the website for the community to be able to purchase these grants. So where are we at now and what's the time frame for that and when does it close? Speaker 3 And so it just opened. Speaker 6 Last week on November 30th. And in the first week alone, we have over 21,000 in grant funded, which is almost double from the last time we did it after Grant in 2019, 2020. So super exciting. Community is excited that grants are back and and so those will stay on sale all the way through our gala up until the Friday before spring break, which is March 11th this. Speaker 3 Year I believe. Speaker 6 And so people can purchase now is kind of an end of year gift type thing if you're wanting to make a tax deductible gift before December 31st or they can purchase them night of our gala on February 12th, or they can still purchase them online after that if they miss that opportunity. So then after that, as like I said, when our committee will come in and pick up and then our favorite day of the year, surprise patrol at the end of the year where we go do a pep rally on each campus and have balloons and the drum line. Speaker 6 And we present checks to each teacher that received a grant that year and just kind of celebrate our community rallying around them. Speaker 5 Yeah, And I would love to to go back to the gala. So grants are available there and you'll partner with the high school art students, Correct. On building the school. Do you want to talk about that some? Speaker 2 Yeah, We started a couple of years ago trying to find a way to get the students more involved in the gala because they can't come to the event that night. But we were like, How awesome would it be to highlight this department who's benefited from our grant so much? So we had them build our display boards. So when you come into the gala, it's an area of the ballroom where we have each campus broken out with every single grant that is written on there. Speaker 2 And then once they're adopted, we put a little sticker or something on it. But so the art students, we visit with them every year and they take our vision and run with it and make it even grander. And then we have our team. It can be. So it's awesome to see that student involvement, even though it's kind of a behind the scenes thing. Speaker 2 We know that it's the grants that have funded and benefited them. They're putting that to work, to in turn pay us back by helping us do some things that we wouldn't be able to do otherwise. Speaker 5 Yeah, it's super cool. I loved it the last time I saw it at the gala. Speaker 3 Mm hmm. Speaker 6 And some of those art teachers even write grants for materials to do community projects like this one, where they're partnering with a community and serving community needs but don't necessarily have the materials to be able to to create all of those things. So very full circle. Full circle. Speaker 1 So can you tell us a little bit about the gala and are all the tables already purchased? Are there still some tables available? Speaker 6 So we are at 40 tables sold right now. We can always take more tables. So if people are interested in attending and joining us down in Galveston on Saturday, February 12th this year, we at the Galveston Island Convention Center. And our theme is Voyage on the High Seas. So we are going cruise themed. So the ballroom will be transformed into the whole cruise vibe. Speaker 6 There might be some different ports that you get to visit as you navigate throughout the space. But yes, we are rocking and rolling. There's opportunities to purchase the tables, to underwrite, to donate auction items and to purchase grants like we talked about night of that event. Speaker 1 So there's always a way I can bring it back to food. But will there. Speaker 3 Be a day like there is no, you. Speaker 1 Know, no buffet at this gala? Speaker 6 No buffet. But there will be good food. Yes, I can promise you that. No. Speaker 1 And so let's sort the theme. Let's talk about the theme again, because I know for you ladies out there who are listening, maybe some guys I can think one guy comes to mind, you probably know who you are. They always want to know what the theme is so they can figure out how to dress and what that dress looks like. Speaker 1 And for some people that are very. Speaker 3 Literal. Speaker 1 They may think they should dress like the theme. So talk to us about the theme. And and actually, I'm going to even go want you to go back further and explain. I'm very interested in how your pick seems. Speaker 3 Also as a past deal. A chair. I will let Malia share about that one. Speaker 2 There's not really a method to the madness, except we just sit around as a committee and start thinking about things that we can get behind and that are easy to market for one thing. Right then decor. And it's you know, we've had so many the very first gala I was a part of was under the big top. It was circus theme and you know, some years we go all in theme and then some years we just kind of it's more about the mission. Speaker 2 Like our 20th anniversary gala was, you know, it was flappers and dapper. So it was twenties, but it was very intentional on being more mission focused than the theme. You know, even the year of Harvey, we had planned on having a grand black and white, you know, in our excuse me, New York, New York theme. And we were like, okay, we can't do this. Speaker 2 So we stripped it down. It was a small town Saturday night. We had denim tablecloths. I mean, it was it really was a neat night. But really we just kind of sit around and start brainstorming with us. We look at maybe what's going on, like with a twenties, 20th anniversary. We thought twenties would be a fun theme just because it went hand in hand. Speaker 2 But I mean, there's really not a mad science to it. It's just kind of sitting around and having some laughs and conversation and what are. Speaker 1 We going to get like super passionate? And then they like want you to pick their theme and then they look at you across the table. Speaker 3 Like, like you better just like that? Speaker 2 No, I don't think so. Yeah, it's it seems like it's been very organic ever since I've been involved. It's just like we kind of start brainstorming and go down a rabbit hole one way and then it takes us back another way. And then we've always come to this consensus about this. This feels right. This is what we need to do. Speaker 3 So a lot. Speaker 6 Of times it's not no, it's just not right now. Like, we always want to change it up. If there's a year where it has been more black and white color schemes than we might want it to be really bright the next year. And so this year, with Voyage on the High Seas, what we love is there's a lot of really interactive elements to a cruise that we can incorporate into. Speaker 3 The. Speaker 6 Future with some different activities and then into the ballroom itself. And so we really wanted to shake it up coming off of last year when we completely reimagined Gala and just kind of do something different, a little more casual, a little more lighthearted and fun, but still bring everybody together to raise money for the mission too. Speaker 1 And I'm sure like any gala or any cruise, you're always there going to be different levels of the way people dress. And some people love to get all dressed up and have fun with that, which is so fun to see, by the way. I mean, it's a great event to come and people watch you know, just to see how people get all fancy up. Speaker 1 And, you know, it's always it's always fun. It's always a good time. So. Okay. So any thoughts about the dress or any suggestions? Speaker 6 So traditionally, dress has been a little more formal, but because there are no rules anymore, since we shook things up last year, we're going more cocktail attire. And then like our 25th anniversary year, our 30th anniversary year, those would be more formal black tie. So this year, cocktail, if you want to dress that up and do more formal, you can If you want to go more casual, that's great too. Speaker 6 But you can dress to kind of the cruise theme if you want to do that. Navy and white kind of vibe or the Love Boat. Speaker 3 The Love Boat did. Speaker 1 A lot of pictures. Speaker 3 Of The Love Boat. Yes. Yeah, we've talked about that on our committee meeting, too. It's Valentine's Day. Speaker 6 Weekend as well, so. Speaker 1 That's right. It's always Valentine's Day weekend. Yes. By the way, that's always my husband and his anniversary. And you notice we spend our anniversary coming to the game. Speaker 2 He loves his date nights, taking care of Natalie. Speaker 3 Perfect day. Speaker 1 Day. Are we going to that gala again this year? Speaker 3 How do you to that? Speaker 6 So in addition to our auction this year, we're doing a pre-event party park auction. So it will be an exclusive list of items that you can bet on to win for the gala. And one of them is a Valentine's Day sweetheart package. So you need to tell your. Speaker 3 Husband, okay, If he. Speaker 6 Just wants to check that box, he can bet on that package. Speaker 3 And make a weekend of it. Speaker 1 That is great to know. And so anything else we want to say about the gala before we move on, because you had some exciting news happened recently that I was going to move to, but anything else? I think we kind of covered the gala. Speaker 6 Yeah. Now I think we've covered it. I mean, one thing to keep in mind this year is everything's going to be online. So even if people aren't attending Gala and I have, they can be bidding from their homes on the auction. They can be participating in a lot of different ways. I do want to share we have two co title sponsors for Gala this year. Speaker 6 That's a first. So do you want to give a shout out to PBC and S&P as our Gaelic title sponsors right now and just excited for their support and helping us take the event to the next level. Speaker 1 Absolutely. That's great. That's great to know. You have great you always have great silent auction items, but then you also have the what do you call it, live auction. Speaker 3 I mean. Speaker 1 Those things are always great to look at and do you get it? Do you get a peek into those things early or do you find it out the night out? Okay. So you do when when will you find out about the. Speaker 6 So it'll probably be about two weeks before the event. We'll start posting some teasers and different promos about the live auction because some people want to be planning what they're going to bid on and get their arms ready to raise those paddles. Speaker 3 Right. Okay. Speaker 2 We also have our paddle race that night, which we brought in the first year for the 20th year, did it last year. And all of that money goes to our grant program for sure. Speaker 3 So, okay, that's. Speaker 2 A big goal this year to hit $50,000. So. Wow. Speaker 1 Yeah. How many paddles is that going to get? Speaker 3 Paddle raised? Speaker 6 Basically, they just start at a certain level and work their way down and everyone raises their paddle to commit to the level they want to give and that's just a straight, straight donation. They're not bidding on anything. It's after the live auction. So if they've lost the item that they were wanting to bid on, they can just conveniently direct that money straight towards it, up to grant. Speaker 1 Gotcha. Yeah, that's great. That's always look forward to that night. So that's that's fine. So let's talk about last week you had a great surprise come your way. So sure that. Let me back up just a little bit. If you have not followed Education foundation on social media, make sure you do that. Ashley does a great job with making sure that you're up to date and getting those sneak peeks and ideas and all those great things that are going on. Speaker 1 So if you are following her on social media, you did learn about this record breaking moment that happened last week with engineering program. Tell us a little bit about that. Speaker 6 Yes. So a couple months ago, we had a board member actually forward us a grant application from Texas Mutual Insurance Company. And there was some kind of very specific requirements for the grant. It was focused on workforce development and safety training. And so I reached out to Susan Kirkpatrick, our CTE director, and really just sat down with her to unpack it and see could we dream up something that aligns with this that might benefit any of the high school programs? Speaker 6 And so we kind of got to start from scratch and dream at, okay, what could this look like? And we wrestled with a couple of different ideas, but we really landed on we have this new engineering lab space coming to the high school with the bond and we're going to need some innovative tools to pack that space to support rocketry and engineering and robotics and all of those different programs. Speaker 6 So we work together with Angie St John at the high school in the three engineering teachers wrote that Grant to Texas Mutual Insurance Company for over $71,000. Honestly, I think we felt like it was a pretty far long shot. We felt like maybe they were looking for more safety focused things and ours was more true workforce development. But last week is when we got the news that we received all $71,000 and wow, new record. Speaker 1 So that's amazing. Speaker 3 Yeah. Speaker 1 So then you got to go and actually present that to those teachers and surprise them with that information, which if you've not seen the video. Speaker 3 The video is so fun because. Speaker 1 I love I don't know if you've ever watched Ellen DeGeneres, but there was this one girl that was always Ashley. And I've already talked about this. There's this one girl that would always go, okay, I'm standing. Speaker 3 Outside the school. Speaker 1 Are going to school with their whatever, you know, whatever it is that they want. And to me, that kind of reminded me of that vibe, how we're going to go. Surprise. And a drumline was there. Speaker 3 Yes. Speaker 1 Which is always fun. Speaker 3 Right. Thanks of exciting. Yeah. I mean. Speaker 6 My favorite part is like getting to tell first. We got to tell Susan, her, Patrick and Mark. You find. Speaker 3 True. Speaker 1 It's a funny moment. Speaker 6 It's funny because everybody needs to know all at the same time. And you want to make sure the teachers hear from a big reveal and not from someone who told someone. But I think Susan get emotional and jump up and down. And Mark Griffen. Speaker 3 Just hooting and hollering. Speaker 2 Is there one? So you've been trying to get a hold of me all day and I've been in meetings at work, and so I kept missing her call and and she finally see me. It's just like, I need to talk to you, please comment. And I'm like, Oh my gosh, what happened? So to hear the excitement in her voice and she was going straight and then tell Susan and Mark, it was just it was so awesome. Speaker 2 It was a big moment for us. I mean, that's the absolute ranking. We've never received that much in one time as a grant before, so it was awesome. Yeah, I. Speaker 6 Don't think Meyer I slept that night and the next morning Kelsey was there. She was trying to help us film that intro. We were both trying to put balloons together and I was like, Ashley, you're shaking like this. Speaker 3 You're not doing anything. Elbow Like, I can't breathe. I'm just so excited to tell him that he was. Speaker 2 Staring at us like there was a group of kids sitting there and I'm like, What are they? What are they doing? What are they doing? So, I mean, here we walk in with these three huge balloon bouquets, and so it's very obvious something's going on. And then I was trying to film to help Kelsey because she was in the classroom so we could get the teacher reactions. Speaker 2 I have my iPhone and trying to film behind the band and I'm like, Look, you don't say this. Speaker 6 You got those teacher reactions, though. That was priceless. Speaker 3 Oh, yeah. Oh, my. Speaker 5 Goodness. They were. I was just standing in there and Susan kind of left me high and dry and they're asking me like, what's going on? I'm like, I don't know. I think I heard something about a group picture. Like, I don't. Speaker 3 I'm not trying to play it cool. I'm like, They were in trouble. Yeah, Yeah. Speaker 5 Well, yeah. And they seemed a little concerned, but then they heard the band and they're like, is out for us. And I was like, I don't think so. Speaker 3 You know, like, I was really trying to. Speaker 5 Play it off. And then of course, they found out they got it and it was just such a cool, like, unexpected reaction. Speaker 6 So yeah, there was dancing involved. If you ever wondered how to make an engineering teacher dance. Speaker 3 Yeah, we can't all dance. Speaker 6 We have some work to do. Speaker 5 Like I said, the other two join in and they refused. Speaker 1 So that's probably a good thing. I don't know if engineering teachers are really great dancers. Speaker 3 Maybe so. Maybe so. I don't know. Speaker 1 But yeah, so that was so exciting and fun to see. So what does that look like for them? Do they just then get to? Do they wait on purchasing those things so they go ahead and purchase those things. Now what what comes along with that that grant? Speaker 6 So basically where we're at right now is the foundation is working with Texas Mutual on getting the contract signed and set up and getting all the accounts over to transfer the funds. And so it will be paid out to the foundation and then we'll transfer it to the district and it'll go towards it was written specifically for things like 3-D printers, plasma cutters, laser. Speaker 3 Sports sight suspension. Speaker 6 All these things. I don't know what these things are, but it's going to be. Speaker 3 Really cool for these students. Speaker 6 And so they'll order it over the next year and then we'll find a place to put it in until we have the the new engineering lab. Speaker 1 So so that just made me think if you're a business owner out there, if you're an exec and you say or think, you know what, we have grants. Don't wait for someone to log on to maybe fill out that grant, reach out to Ashley, a deer or Molly crew and say, Hey, we have some great grants that we would love. Speaker 1 We ought to apply for. I mean, you may or may not get it, but it's so there's so many grants out there and you can't keep up with all of that. So if you specifically know of any grants that you think they would be a great fit for, be sure you reach out. So that would be great. I would be honest from that. Speaker 2 That's one thing we really want to try to grow as a foundation is our external grant funding, like this exact example with Texas Mutual Insurance. So and there's so many of them out there that we just don't know about. And I need to be able the community could help us in that in a great way, because there's a lot of different ways that we can get funding for sure. Speaker 1 I don't know if you read any of the comments whenever you posted that video, but I thought it was that a mom posted that her son was in that class. Speaker 3 And. Speaker 1 That it was a really cool moment for him to be a part of and see which one. I appreciate that she took the time to say that that's not really things that we necessarily think about, but the impact that it just makes on the kids to say they were sitting in a class when $71,000 came into their program is, you know, pretty cool. Speaker 1 Pretty cool. Yeah, that's awesome to see. And so one of the other things last year, Ashley, I mean, my goodness, the amount of money that that you bring into our district last year you were notified I think it was last year. Speaker 3 That you were. Speaker 1 Notified about a legacy gift. Speaker 6 So I was actually. Speaker 3 She said two years ago. So your very first day on the job? It was my first day on the job. Speaker 1 Really. I didn't know. Speaker 6 That. Yes, I received an email from a woman named Carla Stinson in our community who wanted to get together and chat about legacy giving, plan, giving. And I told Kelsey this honestly, I thought it was spam. I was like, What? Speaker 3 This can't be real, right? Speaker 6 And so we Mr. Rohr and I and a couple of exact members, our president at the time met with her and just learned more about her story. Speaker 3 Wow. Speaker 6 And went from there. Speaker 3 Yeah. Speaker 6 So she had received kind of a tough diagnosis a couple of weeks before and was kind of wanting to get all of her affairs in order. And the first thing she said when she sat down was, look, I don't want this to be awkward. I know this could be really awkward for you guys and it could be intense and emotional, but I want to make an impact on friends when I see students and I want you to help me do that. Speaker 6 And so we said, okay, let's talk more. Let's hear about what you're passionate about. And to really get to hear the story of Mrs. Stinson and her husband who had. Speaker 3 Passed. Speaker 6 And just their heart kind of for the aerospace industry, the work they had done there. Speaker 3 For. Speaker 6 Their daughter Jordan, who had grown up in friends, that Esty and been a product of this district and the community that invested in her. And so as soon as as soon as the word rocketry and aerospace came up, that is kind of that was kind of a God wink that this is it. This is what we need to do, an opportunity that the district had kind of been wanting to bring to our students, being so close to NASA and all those opportunities. Speaker 6 And so we just kind of dreamed it up from there. And so the Stinson rocketry gift, over $200,000 is what founded the new rocketry program that kicked off this year at the high school. Speaker 1 And it's a three year program, correct. Like in that this grant will go towards the next three years of what am I thinking with three years, the students that started it, they'll be seniors whenever it. Speaker 6 So the curriculum that we're implementing for the rocketry program is called systems Go okay. And there's like three levels of the curriculum. Okay. So level one is starting this year and then we would phase in year two. It's like rocketry two, rocketry three. Speaker 1 Okay. Speaker 6 But with this class year, one of the rocketry program, these students in May of 2022 are going to be going out to A.I. at Smith Point with the goal of sending a £1 payload one mile into space. That is, I can't imagine what that's going to be like within Tier three is there are launching full on rockets out at White Sands, New Mexico. Speaker 3 Okay. Speaker 6 So that's where we're headed. Speaker 5 Yeah. And I know because we did a legacy story over the Stinson family and I got to sit down and talk with Jordan and that was talk about a God moment. It was awesome. But one thing that was definitely emphasized through that conversation was her mom really wants to encourage others to to do this as well. Speaker 6 Yeah, her heart was. Speaker 3 This. Speaker 6 The idea of planned giving and giving and all of that can be and comfortable. People don't always want to think about it or talk about or it's a whole different way of promoting it. But she really viewed it as This is my way of investing in the future of Friendswood and making an ongoing that's going to be here, you know, long after we're all gone. Speaker 6 And so I would say if plan giving is anything that you are thinking about, definitely reach out to the foundation because it was so rewarding and so special to get to continue Mr. Anderson's legacy and to get to work with her daughter now and to see that impact on our students now. Speaker 1 And for her daughter to get to see in three years where this program is and. Speaker 2 To knows her parents. Speaker 1 And to know her parents, that that made it happen is a beautiful thing. I mean. Speaker 5 She said she'll she'll be there for that long. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Of course. She that's just got to be just awesome. Speaker 2 It's amazing. And at the very first time I met Mrs. Stinson was at the gala several years before she had won a silent live auction item. And there had been a bidding war going. And I can distinctly see her face and her arms were up in the air and she was cheering and yelling, and it was the pure joy on her face. Speaker 2 So every time I think about this program, I think of that and just how happy I know that she is of what a difference that she's made on these kids. And it's going to continue for several years. So it's really kind of an overwhelming moment. Speaker 3 Really. Speaker 1 It's it's it's it's a beautiful thing. You know, I've my parents are big givers and they always talked my in my growing up my childhood about how they're going to contribute in the different places that they will contribute, you know, to their church and everything. And it just opened my eyes with that legacy gift. I was like, Oh, I've been in education my entire life, but it's just not something that I thought about. Speaker 1 So I loved hearing about that and I cannot wait to see where that goes. And, you know, yeah, how it continues to grow. Now, is it different than a tribute gift? Speaker 6 Yes. So a tribute gift would be like if someone passes away and in lieu of flowers, they want a gift to be made to a nonprofit of their choice. It would be a tribute gift in their memory to the Education Foundation so sometimes will receive one offs of those someone that just feels led, you know, an educator may be passed away and they want to make a gift in their honor or sometimes will have people that set up a more formal tribute gift page through the foundation where people can anyone that's attending or supporting the family during that time can give. Speaker 1 Okay, makes sense. So talk to talk to everybody about what are some ways other than what we've talked about today, which is there's so many great things going on with Education Foundation, but what are some other ways that people can get involved? And I know you're doing is it called give backs? Speaker 3 That's one way, yes. Speaker 1 What are the other events and opportunities? Speaker 6 Yeah. So we can talk about give back a little bit. Speaker 3 So this is. Speaker 6 Relatively new to us still. This is our service. Yeah. Last year our fundraising committee, you know, in light of COVID and really trying to think outside the box and ensure we're not only fundraising, but we're meeting the needs of our community during this time. Give Back is an area that we wanted to focus on. So specifically looking at restaurant, give back nights or shopping on, give back with local retailers where we're driving traffic out to those local businesses and then they're pledging a percentage that's donated back to the foundation. Speaker 6 So it's the community is getting a great meal or they're getting to buy something they need anyways. They're getting to support the school district and they're getting to shop local and support small businesses. Speaker 3 So I'm saying. Speaker 6 That, yes, win, win. Speaker 3 Win. Speaker 6 And that really honestly, it took off last year. We kicked off with our our restaurant nights and those were a huge success. They raised almost $5,000 between the couple that we did and then our shop assigns. We did two of those one in the spring and one in the fall. And it was just really fun to see 18 to 20 local businesses participated in each and really just get to see whether you can support the foundation by going out and shopping to do your Christmas shopping as a give back or your, you know, whatever other shopping you're doing. Speaker 6 There's lots of different ways to give and to just also pouring back into the community, too. Speaker 2 Absolutely. I think those are good ways to give to for people that, you know, we've talked about the $70,000 grant or the legacy gift. I think a lot of people think sometimes that the only way to give is a very large, impactful gift. And I think I mean, on those nights just going and having dinner and knowing that a percentage that is giving also and so it's another it's another level of getting people involved. Speaker 2 And it's a fun night for the whole community. I mean, one of them, we did the restaurant at last, Candida. I mean, it was crazy in there that night and it was just a fun night because you saw people you hadn't seen in a long time and everybody was there kind of for a good cause. And the same feeling. Speaker 2 It was just a good vibe in there that night. The same with the shop. Athans So there are a lot it's a lot of fun. This is a totally different level of giving back. We also have our Sporting place, which is a fun event that we have every year. Speaker 1 This year was a big year for sporting goods. Speaker 2 There was a venue for sporting guys, so that event started a number of years ago. We had six teams and it was a very small six six teams. Our very first year, I think we made like $11,000 or something overall, but we had six teams our first year and quite honestly it was an event we considered scrapping a few years ago because. Speaker 2 We were just like, you know, is this the right thing we want to do? Or and then it's just, I mean, blown up and grown from there. It's amazing. We had double teams this year. I mean, our revenue is just was amazing what we were able to do. And it's one of my favorite days because it brings in a different supporter of people that don't normally come to the gala, or a lot of them, quite frankly, don't even live in Friendswood. Speaker 2 It's just other partners that we have and supporters we had bring them in. So it exposes us to a different demographic of people that don't live in our town. And it's a lot of fun. It's a lot of fun as well. Speaker 1 And that's the challenge I think, for I would imagine for y'all is to come up with ways that you can get as many people involved as possible and in ways that they love and enjoy. And so, you know, it's just I could see where not everybody me maybe likes to go to a gala, but how else can you get involved? Speaker 1 And I think that's just the challenge that I would like to challenge our community. I mean, even surrounding communities and businesses with is if you're not involved, you haven't found a way to get involved yet. I want to challenge you to get involved. And if you can't think of a way that best fits, you, call Ashley and you know, that's what I really believe. Speaker 1 That's what y'all's gifts are. You're great. It let's sit down and unpack. What are your passions? How can we get you involved and I'm telling you, when you see where this money goes and the little ones and even the big ones, students love the way that it impacts their lives. You'll be hooked forever, and you know that you're giving for a good cause. Speaker 1 So yeah, that's so interesting. You started with six teams. How many teams was it this past year? Speaker 6 So we had over 50 teams this year and netted over $85,000. So huge shout out to our Sporting Place committee because of the growth of that event has been unbelievable. Speaker 3 Yeah. Speaker 6 And I think it's it is a different it's more Houston area businesses are clearly kind of getting involved and it's really a networking event. It's a lot of fun and it's a great way that people come out and bring clients or business partners or things like that and get to just all kind of be outdoors and enjoy time together in fellowship and then also support the district as well. Speaker 6 We did have two new title sponsors for that one or grew to two title sponsors. Texas Mutual Insurance was one of them, and then Texan Bank longtime supporter of that event. So that was a huge part of what helped it grow this year. And then we added a fun element this year, our squares board fund raiser where you bought. Speaker 3 And. Speaker 6 You bought a square. Speaker 3 For. Speaker 6$100. There is a hundred of them. Speaker 3 Available and you know, I wanted to rewind, you know, for a chance to win one of two. Speaker 6 Hunting trips to some of the premier hunting lodges in Georgia and. Speaker 3 Utah, I. Speaker 1 Have to tell you. So why we're laughing just quickly. I'm just going to. Speaker 3 Just throw it out there. Speaker 1 You say it was it was a it was an accident. My name was called Accidentally. Speaker 3 I did not win. They had to retract my. Speaker 5 I see. Like got excited, like. Speaker 3 Jumping up and down. I won. Speaker 1 We the hunting trip in like Utah. Speaker 3 I think it was I think Rick was even going to be there. Like, that's what I pictured. Did you I don't know if that's what was happening and but I can tell you, it was so. Speaker 1 Funny because I didn't know. I mean, most of the men, as I looked around, I don't know them. It's it's mainly men. They're they're even though shout out there are a lot of ladies there that are there to shoot as well. But sorry, my asthma's kicking in because I've been laughing. But the number of men that looked at me and mouth, I'm so. Speaker 3 Sorry. It was you. The reason it wasn't your fault, you know. Speaker 1 They were like, Oh, no, it was a total act. It was hilarious. I really did not think another thing about it. After I, I kind of told a couple of people as I kind of knew I didn't win because my numbers were nine and two. And the the person that won before they threw down a nine. And I thought statistically that happening again is very low. Speaker 1 Like, I'm not they're not going to roll another nine. So when they said the numbers, I knew it was it nine and two. But then when they said, Dana, I want to just let all that go. And I just. Speaker 3 I just ran and then I got to go, oh my gosh, I'm so embarrassed that it became about me being embarrassed because I just was packed in a pool because I didn't win. It was red. The excitement was with him and my mind being in a different state. Yeah. So. Speaker 5 Well, another thing that I love that you all do is you give out a prize for last place as well. Speaker 3 Yeah, that's. Speaker 1 Fine. Speaker 3 Yeah, that's. Speaker 5 Right. And you want to tell them what? I thought it was hilarious what this year's prize was. Speaker 6 Yeah. So in the past, we've done everything from, like, kiddy fishing pools and, you know, toys, Nerf guns or things like that. Like, Hey, try your luck at something else. Speaker 3 You had a new hobby? Yeah, Yeah, new hobby. Speaker 6 Didn't quite work out at sporting clays, but we'd love for you to come back. Anyways. So this year we got a little creative and we had gift certificates from a eye doctor. Speaker 3 To go to a good site, go get your eyes checked and then come back. Speaker 6 Next year and maybe up your score. Speaker 3 So was pretty fun. We were a little nervous about it. First, you. Speaker 6 Got to have the right person win last place. Speaker 3 It isn't going to take a fence. I mean. Speaker 6 It's worked out well. It was pretty funny. Speaker 3 Yeah. Speaker 2 Find day calendar everyone and take pictures of all the teams And it's interesting watching how intense and competitive some of them are. And some of them are just like, Hey, what's up? What is that? You have a good time. Oh, yeah. Speaker 5 Like some of them were like, I'm like trying to get a picture of everyone. And I'm like, Okay, can you just, like, take two. Speaker 3 Seconds to smile for me and be like, Oh, we got to get on to our next. Exactly. Yeah. Speaker 6 You can normally tell when you drive up and ask like, How's it going? Some people answer with the number that they've missed because, like, they're really good and they're mad they've missed two. And then others are like. Speaker 3 I've hit three. Like, I'm doing great. You're like, okay, two brackets. Yes. But I have. Speaker 1 To say, I mean, I put off going to this event because I hadn't learned and that was one of my goals. Things to accomplish in 2021 is I wanted to be a part of the Sporting Clays event, and to do that I needed to go practice a little bit or learn or listen, I didn't do great. But you do know that it doesn't matter. Speaker 3 You. Speaker 1 Either for a good cause. You're learning something that's fun and interesting. And I really am glad that I went. And it was it was a great event, so applied, you know, it was great. Kudos to you. And for just another great event and bringing in a lot of money. Speaker 3 So thank you. We'll be back next year, October seven. Speaker 1 Yeah. So so give backs Clay sporting that happens in the fall. You have the gala that happens in February. What else. Speaker 6 Yeah. Just to circle back and give back really quick. So we'll have shop Ethan's and restaurant nights coming back in the spring. That's an ongoing one. Sometimes we forget about those because they're year round, so we have everything from American Furniture Warehouse. All you have to do is say fiesty and they donate a portion of every sale back year round. Speaker 6 If you didn't finish your shop, it looks like Kelsey might be. Speaker 3 That's good. I just. Speaker 5 Got a house this year, so yeah. Speaker 3 I need to rebuild. Yeah. Speaker 6 And we also have Jay's car wash and grease monkey. So right next door to each other, first and third Tuesday of every month, they do a give back to the foundation. So we are grateful for them. And then Amazon Smile is a big one. Speaker 3 Lots of holiday. Speaker 6 Shopping right now. Make sure your Amazon account is tag to the Education Foundation because every little bit helps. Speaker 1 Yes, that's a huge. What percentage do you get? Do you know that with Amazon smile? Speaker 6 I cannot remember it off the top of my head. Speaker 1 I don't know that. I remember. Speaker 3 When you get back And what does that. Speaker 1 Look like? Do you just get a check? Do you? Speaker 6 So it's actually tied to our checking account. So every quarter we get an email saying, well, here was the give back from this quarter and it's just automatically. Speaker 1 So yes, that's huge, folks. I found out about that a couple of years ago that if you can just make sure that your account is linked to friends, to an education foundation, that can make a huge difference. Speaker 3 And one other. Speaker 5 Thing would be with with staff, right. Like staff can give you a certain portion of their check. Speaker 6 Yes. So we have payroll deduction is another great way to give. And this is honestly always just so moving to me to see that our our teachers and our administrators believe in the work of the Education Foundation and are truly willing to link arms and okay, we believe in bringing these things to our students. So they can deduct from their paycheck, whether it's a dollar or $15 every every other week. Speaker 6 And all of that goes straight to the foundation's mission to I think we have over a hundred staff across our district to participate in that program, which has doubled from last year. Speaker 3 So it's a great one going back. Speaker 1 Free to the businesses in the restaurants that are involved in that sort of thing. Do they have a sticker or anything like that on their business that says we're involved with give Back so that we support friends? What education foundation? Just so like as we're going around to businesses to know which businesses kind of give back and really to make the other ones feel guilty. Speaker 3 And you wonder, what do you want the sticker to give? We do not have that right now, but that is a great idea. Yeah. Speaker 2 I mean, we have the posters and stuff up during the actual give back event that something that would stay up here around. That's a great way to do for recognition. Speaker 3 You know. Speaker 2 We need to look at that our marketing committee of a lot. Speaker 3 Of the committee there's always a committee that can help. Speaker 1 So how can people get involved with the education for I mean, we've obviously gone over a lot of those various avenues of way of donating and being involved. Are there any other ways that. Speaker 6 The only one we didn't hit on to our first event of the year is new employee luncheon. So we have the privilege of hosting all of our new teachers at the end, new staff at the beginning of each school year, and we always have a guest speaker come. We provide a really great lunch. It's always decorated beautifully. We have lots of door prizes and different things like that, just to really show our our new staff that our community is wrapping their arms around them. Speaker 6 And we're so excited that they're a part of the Mustang family. So that's a great event to be a part of. And like you said, we've talked about kind of our three big events throughout the year are new employee luncheon, sporting clays and gala than our big adopt a grant campaign from now until March is a great way to directly support specific teachers or specific projects. Speaker 6 And then kind of sprinkled throughout is those different give back campaigns more other ways to give as well. So a spot for everyone, if there's something that the community listening is interested in, we can get them plugged in and make sure they're giving towards something they're passionate about. Speaker 3 That's. Go ahead, Mom. Speaker 2 I was just going to say the other way to get involved, which isn't really an event, but we started a couple of years ago and then had to time it because of COVID last year. But we're bringing back in the spring is our foundation field trips, where Miss Aurora takes us to different campuses. We have different schedules come up so we can actually get on campus and see what we have provided in the hands of the students. Speaker 2 So you don't have to be a board member to go. If you know a board member, reach out to them or reach out to myself or Ashley, if you would like to attend that day, because that's a great way to really see our impact on the campuses and see what we do. And then, you know, we would love to be able to turn you from that to a partner supporter, you know, maybe a board member at some point. Speaker 2 But that's another way and a fun way to get involved with us is just to go actually get on the campuses and see the kids. Speaker 3 Hmm. Speaker 1 There are so many good things and good ways, but to be in that classroom and to see those. Speaker 2 Faces and like. Speaker 1 It, there's nothing like it. It's it's hard to explain, but there's nothing like it. And my mother at one time was a part of the the surprise patrol. And she even said there was nothing like seeing that. Just just the teachers finding out that they won. And I guess that's just kind of a payback. You know, you just realize what your money's going to. Speaker 1 And there's nothing better than just sweet little faces and oh, my. Speaker 2 Gosh, they get so excited when they hear their teacher's name called to. Speaker 3 See how do they just so cute. What is what is. Speaker 1 What is the hardest part of your job? Ashley? I know you came from the American Heart Association, which and you have such passion in York, you'll do such a great job of raising money. It is a skill. I mean, I literally could not do your job. I could not. I think there are a lot of jobs out there that I really feel pretty confident like, I could do that. Speaker 1 I'll pass by and I'll go. I could do that. I could not do that. I just it's just I don't know how you do it. So what's the hardest part of your job, do you think? Speaker 6 And I think the hardest part is there's just so many moving pieces. Like all the things that we've talked about. There's so many different. Speaker 3 Ways. Speaker 6 That we're supporting the district and ways that we're connecting with the community. And so that's the most challenging part, but that's also the most fun part. Speaker 3 And what would. Speaker 6 It be possible is without the support of our board, we're led by 33 community leaders. Molly's our board president. Those are broken up into committees that really help manage everything that we've talked about and coordinate all of the details and make sure that everything we're doing is aligning with moving our mission forward for the district. So just kind of as the staff person with that bird's eye view, sometimes that gets overwhelming because there's so many irons in the fire and so many things going on. Speaker 6 But but like we talked about seeing the kids and being in the classroom, that's where my passion is. That's what my heart is. I've always been passionate about kids, but I knew I couldn't be a teacher. So I have landed in the right spot and getting to work with them kind of indirectly. Speaker 1 In Mali, I always feel like you should be getting a salary. I see you so much. It's amazing the time that you put in to what you do for Education Foundation. It really is. So I applaud you just for the time and love part and and Kelly before you Kelly level who was the president before you and you know she was always around and always involved and I'm just always amazed at how much time y'all spend doing. Speaker 1 But it takes that kind of time to make those things happen. Speaker 2 It's very rewarding to do it, though. It's a lot of fun. And that's one thing I think is outstanding about our entire board is we truly are a working board. I mean, all of it's like we have a number committees, our chairs, they I mean, Ashley does so much for us, but our board is so much involved and very much a working board and making it all happen behind the scenes, which is just it's awesome to be a part of that group of people that want to be there and make it better for the. Speaker 3 Group of people. Speaker 1 Yeah, I mean, I look at that picture and I go, Those are those are really good people. Speaker 3 Yeah. Speaker 6 Well, I think one of my favorite parts is whether it's with our board or with teachers or with community members, is connecting people with what they're passionate about. Right? So if it's a board member that's really passionate about local businesses, our fundraising committee chair, he will go out and talk to anyone and build a relationship out of thin air. Speaker 6 And so it's just cool to see so many unique gifts and strengths among our board and how we've kind of been able to lean into those and grow so much so fast because of just a dynamic group that we have. Speaker 1 Is that Brad. Speaker 6 Right. That's Brandon Kinsey Oh. Speaker 1 That's Brandon Kinsey Yes. Speaker 3 Let's do that. We've got great people. Speaker 1 A lot of great people. Yeah. My funny story with Brad is I was sitting next to him in an interview committee and just mentioned that before he goes into any meeting or event, he sets a goal of meeting X amount of people. And and I sat there and I was like, I have never set a goal. Speaker 3 Of meeting, but it was like an. Speaker 1 Aha moment for me. And it was, it was like brilliant. And I really changed the way I go into rooms now and say I don't necessarily set the goals the way he does, but I absolutely go into rooms and go. When I leave, I will have had at least two conversations that normally I wouldn't have had because you tend to walk towards people you know, true. Speaker 1 It is so true. And to get out of your comfort zone and I'm going to connect and make some connections, you know, or network in some sort of way. But absolutely, finding people's passions or wheelhouse where they just they go, they naturally and works for them. That's that's the way to I would think even keep them involved. Speaker 3 Yeah, absolutely. Speaker 6 Speaking of Brad in interviews, he was integral in helping. We've talked a lot about growth and the fast growth of the foundation. One of the things I'm so excited about this year is we have a new part time staff person, Amber Pugsley. So if you see her out and about, she has been a huge blessing to our team already and just supporting the growth and the work that we're doing as a foundation. Speaker 6 So shout out to. Speaker 1 Amber yet Shout out to Amber. Okay, so we always wrap up every podcast with random questions and so I'm just going to ask you questions and you can take turns on who goes first and who goes, Oh, nervous. Speaker 3 Don't be nervous. There is no right or wrong answers. No, we're not trying to. Speaker 5 Get you all flustered over. Yeah. Speaker 1 I did see this first question and think, Oh, this would be perfect for the two of you. So, Ashley, I'll start with you. If you could donate $100,000 to any philanthropic cause or charity organization other than friends, would Estee or American Heart Association, maybe we'll even say because you've worked both, which would you choose and why? Speaker 6 So I would pick something to do with Texas A&M, because I am a big Aggie and I would probably specifically pick the Strategic Philanthropy Program, which is a class I took when I was a senior and really kind of ignited some of the passions and interest I had in philanthropy, in nonprofits and giving back. So I would want to support continuing that opportunity for those. Speaker 3 Students that. Speaker 1 Actually invited you back. Right, to speak to their class. Speaker 3 Yes, I've gotten. Speaker 6 To chat with them. That's awesome. Yeah. So that class basically students are given a sum of money that they have to distribute to local nonprofits. So our student grant committee meetings were modeled after that experience at A&M. So I would I would just love to be able to continue that circle. Speaker 1 Molly. Speaker 2 Texas FFA. Speaker 6 So you're going to say UT. Speaker 3 And then we're. Unknown About to have to Diamond No, FFA. Speaker 2 I've been around it because my dad's been really involved in a number of years. But now that my son is part of the program and I see the opportunities that those students have and the foundation that they have that provides so much for their agriculture teachers and the students. It's mind boggling the opportunities that are out there for those kids and to be able to help fund those. Speaker 2 That's exactly what I would do with it. Speaker 1 Did you happen to see our challenge accepted with Rachel? Speaker 3 Yes. Smart out of that was very nice. Yeah, that was a lot of fun. Speaker 1 Cute to work with her on that. Okay, question number two Who's the most interesting person? You know? Speaker 3 Oh, my gosh. Hmm. That's a hard. That is indeed. But I thought they were going to be like, what's your favorite color or what's your favorite. Speaker 6 Most interesting person? Speaker 2 My mind's all over the place. I can think of a lot of different people for a lot. Speaker 3 Of different reasons. We did our most. Speaker 6 To pick our most interesting board member. That's interesting. A number. Speaker 2 Go. Speaker 6 I pick Tanner Baker. So he works for Memorial Hermann. Southeast is really quiet, kind of hangs out in the back and I remember we did a get to know you worksheet at the beginning my first year just kind of wanted to get to know board members and their favorite things. He put his favorite food was corn dogs. Speaker 3 And every other answer was cute, and I was like, Tanner, see you. Okay, choose that sense of humor. Speaker 2 So it's a funny guy. Yeah. Speaker 6 He's he's pretty entertaining. Speaker 2 I don't. Person or board member. Speaker 3 Either one, I. Speaker 1 Would imagine it's hard to pick one, you know, a lot of interesting people. And who's the most interesting person? Speaker 2 I guess I'm thinking so many different aspects of my life that I've met so many phenomenal people. But I would probably say one of the most influential and interesting people is Jane Ragsdale. She owns the camp where I grew up in the summer, and she's very interesting and there's so many facets of her life, but so much of what she does goes back to children and makes them a better person. Speaker 2 And it, you know, from a young girl to a grown woman, that's probably who I would pick. Speaker 3 Okay, good morning to get deep. Speaker 1 Good would show are you currently into or watching. Speaker 6 Well we've already had on Yellowstone. Speaker 3 Obviously who isn't watching Yellowstone. Who is it? Speaker 5 Me. I'm not watching it. Yes. Speaker 3 You need to start. Speaker 1 We've had that conversation. Speaker 2 Since season one. So I'm kind of I'm getting there, though, fast, like a million Little Things is the show I'm watching right now. I love that show. Speaker 3 And. Speaker 5 I've seen some of that. But I didn't I haven't watched it in a while. Now is when it's on. Speaker 2 Because I'm in our room watching it and tears are usually flowing. It's just a. Speaker 3 Very good effort to take a step back. Speaker 5 I was like, Oh my gosh, this is just emotional turmoil. Every time I watched this. Speaker 3 I love it. Yes, I no, it's good. Speaker 1 Ashley, you watch anything interesting right now that you like? Speaker 6 So I'm a big fan of Gray's Anatomy and Station 19. Speaker 3 All of those. I am, too. Speaker 6 And then what else do I watch? New Amsterdam. I'm a resident. I do watch The Bachelor. No shame in. Speaker 3 Everybody. I'm watching. I'm a long term bachelor watcher. Speaker 5 Every discussion we do. Speaker 3 We debrief very important things on that. I us I'll great this list with you. Yeah. Speaker 1 Okay. So number four and then of course, I always end with the last question. But if you have Wonder Woman's lasso of Truth, who do you use it on? Speaker 6 So I haven't seen Wonder Woman. What is? Speaker 3 Well. Speaker 1 She has a lasso, and if she lassos you. Speaker 3 I'm actually doing the reason the lasso lands around you. Speaker 1 You have to tell the truth. Oh, So who would you use the lasso on? Speaker 3 I guess. 18 year old. Unknown Exactly. But, you know, I thought, do I really want to do is I can do it. Speaker 3 I lasso it, so have. Speaker 1 It come up. Speaker 3 I need to go. Speaker 6 Watch the movie and I'll report back. Speaker 1 It's just a if you had to ask anyone a question and then they would have. Speaker 3 To tell you. Speaker 6 The truth, who. Speaker 1 Would it be? Speaker 3 Hmm? Speaker 1 Yeah. Speaker 2 Most of the people that are coming to mine, I feel like they tell me the truth right. Speaker 3 Here in the least. I hope they do. Hmm. Speaker 1 You can pass muster. Speaker 3 Yeah, that's fine. Speaker 5 I feel like I would ask, like. Like the Ramseys or like a true crime kind of thing right. Speaker 3 Now, Like. Speaker 5 Simpson or the Ramseys. Yes. Yeah. That lasso. Speaker 2 Scene. Speaker 3 Oh, yeah, that. And that's a good one. Speaker 1 That went down a whole different. Speaker 3 Yeah. When my horse murders over. Speaker 1 Okay, So I always in the podcast with finish the sentence. One thing I know for sure is. Speaker 2 I'm doing good. Speaker 6 One thing I know for sure. Speaker 3 Is. Speaker 6 I love working for Feisty and being back in this community. Speaker 1 Well, it shows for sure. We love that you're here. Thank you, Molly, for everything you do and the time that you spend. I enjoy seeing. Speaker 3 You. Speaker 1 I just great to get to visit with you and to be able to break down the Education Foundation for everyone. So if you're listening, get involved. The Education Foundation can definitely use you in one way or another. Speaker 2 Yeah. Speaker 3 Thanks for having us. Unknown I think you teach.