FRISCO, TX- Districts often need help getting funding for fine arts, media, and club student programs. Teachers are also limited in how much they can spend for their classes as they usually need to take money out of their budgets. That’s why it’s worth remarking when a district can receive money for their programs to support programs in addition to their budgets. Similarly, the Frisco Education Foundation (FEF) gathered over $10,000 for the district. Instead of giving the money to a few teachers, they decided to provide $100 grants to as many randomized teachers before the school year to make a larger impact on a greater number of Frisco ISD students. This money was given to support more teachers in creating opportunities for their students. The condition for the grant is that teachers awarded the grant must provide a receipt when they use the money for something that shows it is being used for the classroom.
One of the teachers awarded is Dustin Parrish, a new teacher who recently started teaching Titan TV, Newspaper, and the intro journalism and audio video production classes. Upon receiving the grant, he came up with a few ideas on how to apply it toward expanding the media program at Centennial. His main plan involved expanding the newscast production.
“I plan on buying a green screen curtain to grow our newscast program from two anchors to four; therefore providing an opportunity from a three-person newscast to an entire 15-person production newscast,” he said.
Parrish has previous experience receiving educational grants and has had several opportunities to help students pursue an interest in photography or media in school districts he has worked with. One of these was an Allen Foundation Photography Grant of $1000 that created a summer camp program for kids of low socioeconomic status (SES) interested in photography but not enrolled in a class. The biggest opportunity, though, was a $600,000 grant.
“I have also been an assistant program director for a film camp program in Farmersville, Texas, and the district received a Texas Workforce Commission grant of over $600,000, target[ing] students from all walks of life including low SES students… and homeschooled students for a two-week film camp,” he said.
Additionally, he headed a kickstarter campaign for an elementary school, which received over 80 donations of over $3500 for a film photography experience in which high school students collaborated to teach the elementary students. These activities are examples of programs that educational grants funded that organizations like FEF can support.
FEF has awarded more than $1.1 million in grant money to educators and $10.7 million in scholarships to more than 10,000 seniors since 1999. FEF’s mission statement is to provide financial resources to maximize student potential in the Frisco Independent School District (FISD) through educational programs, student scholarships, and grants for FISD innovative educators. FEF raises this money through fundraisers and community partnerships along with donations. The grant application for 2024-25 closes Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, so make sure to apply if interested. You can donate to the FEF anytime through their donation form and help teachers continue to develop innovative programs for their students.
