The Katy ISD Education Foundation awarded a $1,000 Inspiring Imagination grant to former Cardiff Junior High School teacher Stephen Bennett (center) during a ceremony May 13.[/caption]

The Katy ISD Education Foundation has awarded more than $725,000 in project funding since it began giving grants in 2013, said Janet Theis, the foundation’s administrative liaison and KISD’s director of community partnerships.

Theis said the foundation was established in 2011 as the brainchild of former KISD superintendent Alton Frailey and is focused solely on providing funding to KISD personnel through its Inspiring Imagination teacher grant program.

“Our vision statement is that we’ll unite the community in making targeted investments in our schools,” she said.

To accomplish this goal, the foundation accepts individual contributions and recently established an endowment fund in Frailey’s name. Frailey, who spent more than 30 years in public education and was KISD superintendent for nine years, set the standard for future endowment fund namesakes, Theis said.

“I think that type of funding—if we do our job right—will come along almost organic to the foundation and the work that we do and the people that we engage in our work,” Theis said. “[Frailey] set a precedent for us and created that space and that opportunity. And I’m sure, as we move forward, there will be other folks who will do the same.”

Theis said the foundation also hosts several fundraising events throughout the year. Marquee events include Groove in the spring and Fireflies & Foodtrucks in the fall. Groove, which is held at the Omni Houston Hotel at Westside, features Katy Jazz Festival musicians.

The foundation’s generosity would not be possible without the level of community engagement the organization receives at these events, Theis said.

Stephen Bennett, who teaches concepts of engineering at the district’s new Tays Junior High School, has received foundation grants.

Bennett, a former district Teacher of the Year nominee, has applied for and received $1,000 grants in both of the last two school years. He has received funding for soldering stations and kits for arduinos—which are microcontrollers for various types of electronics.

The $1,000 amount is the maximum award available to individual teacher; groups of instructors can earn up to $5,000 per year, he said.

Bennett said he enjoys having the ability to apply for grants each year that help incrementally grow his program. He said his program would focus on robotics competitions and invention-based projects for the 2016-17 school year and beyond.

“[The foundation has] been a huge support for teachers, and the support just keeps growing as more and more teachers find out about it,” he said. “It’s been instrumental in adding so many more capabilities to what I do.”

An immediate goal for the foundation is reaching the $1 million donation milestone in five years, Theis said.