Foundation for Innovation: Group seeks to improve education in Oxford
September 23, 2008 By Michael A. Bell, Staff Writer:
Retired teacher Cristy Humphries often dug through her purse to find money to pay for her students' school supplies, knowing she'd never be reimbursed. "You get it back when you see the (students') light bulbs come on," she said. "The rewards are exponential."
Now, as executive director for the newly formed Oxford City Schools Education Foundation, the 25-year veteran educator strives to raise money to supplement teachers' already cash-strapped budgets, while also building a school, community, alumni and business partnership that focuses on enhancing children's minds. "We're all in this game together," she said. "We can leave a legacy for future generations."
The foundation, which incorporated in early August, joins a list of local education foundations with similar missions: To assist school systems with financial backing while forging community support.
The Community of Calhoun County next year will celebrate its 10th anniversary. President and CEO Wayne Carmello-Harper said the Oxford group should maintain sound records and be transparent, showing the public how their donations are being spent. "The most important thing is public support and donor support, for people to understand their mission," he said. "That's the core part: Having a successful foundation is being able to align your mission and your charitable purpose with the community and the people who would most likely be your supporters."
Oxford officials soon will begin holding fundraisers. Like other foundations, they plan to provide scholarships for college, grants for teachers and resources to prepare students for the 21st century work force. "I just can't wait to see what it becomes over the next few months and years," said Oxford City Schools Superintendent Jeff Goodwin. Goodwin sees the foundation becoming an avenue for innovative ideas in the classroom that aren't just more pencils, paper or glue, such as studying exotic animals or plants in biology, taking field trips to untapped territories — teaching practices that are "out of the box."
"There's a lot of expenses that the school board can't do for a variety of reasons," said Stan Nelson, Oxford's education foundation president. "This foundation will pick up where that leaves off." The foundation is independent of the school system, but will partner with it. "They are the pulse of what is going on in the school system," said Humphries, an Oxford High alum.
She's also quick to applaud the city's top-notch school system. But she added there is certainly room for improvement. "I guess once a school teacher," she said, "you always have that passion in making that difference in the lives of children, whether in the classroom or outside the classroom."
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