Schools
Foundation Hopes to Build on Success with Community Help
A Lindbergh schools-centric nonprofit group is hoping to get the word out about its cause for providing scholarships to students and grants for classroom projects for teachers.
Members of the Lindbergh Schools Foundation updated board members of the Lindbergh School District during the board’s meeting Tuesday night at the district’s Early Childhood Education building. The foundation is independent of the school district.
Foundation President Mike Steeno said the nonprofit has come a long way since its inception in 1998. Steeno also is a former Lindbergh school board member.
Steeno said the group began to grow in earnest about five years ago from a small group of people meeting in homes to its current strength.
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The Foundation currently has assets totaling more than $364,000, which is earmarked for 19 separate scholarships opportunities for Lindbergh graduates and grants for teachers to improve students’ learning opportunities.
“That’s a remarkable figure considering how hard it is to raise money right now,” Steeno said of the group’s assets.
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The group intends to continue raising money by accepting donations and through a variety of fundraisers. For example, the foundation is hosting the second annual Lucky Lindy’s Texas Hold’em Tournament on Jan. 13 at Royale Orleans to benefit future scholarships and grants.
“Our goal—I am going to be bold here and say is to raise (the group’s total assets to) $1 million,” Steeno told the board. “The problem is getting the word out. I believe very few people in the Lindbergh community know we exist.”
School Board Member Vicki Englund praised the group and said she wished the opportunities it provided were available when she graduated Lindbergh High School.
“The work you do is very important, especially considering how much college costs these days,” Englund said.
Steeno said foundation volunteers made a special effort this year to solicit applications for grants from Lindbergh teachers by giving them Payday candy bars wrapped in applications.
The effort paid dividends as 24 teachers applied for grants, Steeno said, adding he was pleased to report the nonprofit is hoping to fund 11 of the classroom projects.
“The money is not for pencils and paper,” Steeno said. “It’s for an idea for their teaching in the classroom.”
School Board President Vic Lenz thanked the foundation for the work they undertook, especially providing financial services for other Lindbergh-associated groups.