Passionate founder provides aid to GCISD

When Mark Howe found out Janice Kane was moving back to Texas in 2004, he did everything he could to hire her for the Grapevine-Colleyville Independent School District Education Foundation executive director position.

"Lured, coerced, begged, recruited her to be the executive director," he said. "Yes, I did all those things, because she is committed to the school district."

Howe was the foundation's board president during that time. He was familiar with Kane's work as a past GCISD school board trustee and president for six years.

"What is passion?" Howe said. "Look up the definition: [Kane] is the defintion of passion in her vocation, which is to raise money for the children and the teachers of the Grapevine-Colleyville Education Foundation."

Kane co-founded the nonprofit Grapevine-Colleyville Education Foundation in 1998 to raise money to benefit students and teachers in the classroom. She moved away from Texas in 2003. After she returned in 2004, Howe persuaded her to take the job.

For nearly eight years, Kane has come up with creative ways to raise money for GCISD.

Last year, Kane was crowned the "Dancing Queen" for her salsa and rumba performance to music from the film "Dirty Dancing." She joined at least 10 other teachers, city officials and community leaders in a dancing competition, helping to raise about $33,000 for charity during the Dancing for Our Stars event, a spinoff of the TV show "Dancing with the Stars." Both the Rotary Club of Colleyville and GCISD Education Foundation hosted the event. The GCISD Education Foundation received about $15,000.

In the past decade, the foundation has raised more than $1.2 million to fund grants to teachers and schools and award scholarships to students. Earlier this month, the foundation hosted a welcoming luncheon for new GCISD educators and an annual golf tournament.

By summer, school buses will be rolling out with corporate and local advertisements, which Kane estimates will generate about $30,000 in the first year. Kane helped come up with the idea for school bus advertising.

"Her fundraising opportunities are very well known," Superintendent Robin Ryan said. "But what makes it special is when a teacher calls up, or a student or an administrator when they need something — they go to Janice. And she never gets tired. She never turns them down; she always tries to see what she can do to help them."

In 1990, Kane helped found the GCISD Council of PTAs to provide support and information through Parent Teacher Associations.

In 1993, she co-chaired a bond campaign to build a second high school — Colleyville Heritage High School — and new elementary schools, and to expand existing schools in the district.

Her sons Eric and Matthew graduated from Grapevine High School, while Drew graduated from Colleyville Heritage High School.

"After all these years, the schools have been good to our kids, and our granddaughter that goes to school here," she said. "Being able to give through the foundation, it's what all our efforts are all about."