Teachers from Stanley Elementary School were among 181 recipients to receive Katy ISD Foundation grants this year.[/caption]

Now in its third year of operation, the Katy ISD Foundation awarded more than $220,000 in grant funding to KISD teachers across 30 campuses in May. The foundation began in 2012 as a way for teachers to receive classroom grants for projects that could not otherwise be funded, KISD Administrative Liaison Janet Theis said.

“We see this as a targeted investment in our schools, because the grants stay in the classroom and support teachers [developing innovative programs],” Theis said.

Since its inception the foundation has more than doubled the amount of grant funding it has offered to teachers, due in large part to a 2013 partnership with British Petroleum that increased the amount of funding available for STEM-related projects, Theis said. The partnership created a jump in available funds—from roughly $88,000 in 2013 to more than $200,000 in 2014.

Crowds turned out for the fall 2014 KISD Foundation fundraiser, Fireflies and Foodtrucks, which was held at No Label Brewery.[/caption]

More than 180 teachers received grants in 2015. The five-page application process began in November and went through a three-step blind evaluation process where projects were reviewed and discussed by a group of community volunteers, Theis said.

“Projects have to fall within the [curriculum] guidelines set at each school,” Theis said.

Examples of grant-funded projects include “Get on the Ball,” which provided exercise balls to Cathie Solomon’s fifth-grade class at Pattison Elementary School, and an entrepreneurship program at the Martha Reins High Opportunity Awareness Center that enabled high school students to invent and market a product through social media. 

Theis said a combination of private and corporate sponsorships along with two annual fundraisers enable the organization to fund more classroom projects.

“We have two annual fundraisers that are open to the public. Our Katy with a Jazz Flair [event] coincides with the Katy Jazz Festival in April, and our Fireflies and Foodtrucks event in September brings food trucks to No Label Brewery,” she said. 

Katy residents are welcome to join committees and volunteer with the foundation, Theis said. The foundation also holds several grant writing workshops for teachers throughout the year.