Persevering through tight economic times, the members kept making and seeking donations while educators worked on grant applications with ideas about how they could do a better job teaching if they had additional resources the school board couldn’t provide.
All of the applicants were invited to attend the group’s year-end banquet where those selected would be awarded their check, and they all went home as winners. Not all of the grants were fully funded, but everyone got something to help with next year’s education program.
Twenty-three grants were awarded in all, totaling $10,865, for a wide range of projects representing every school in the system.
And it’s not just in Talladega where the community is providing extra support.
Sylacaugans formed the Sylacauga City Schools Foundation in 1988, and this year topped the million-dollar mark in support to the schools. Other area schools followed. Pell City has a foundation to provide supplements to classrooms there and the Talladega County Education Foundation helps county schools.
The AIDB Foundation provides additional funding for programs at the Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind, and Talladega College is organized as a non-profit organization that benefits from donations to help with its mission.
That’s the kind of grassroots support that helps teachers and students reach for higher goals, and the kind of organized activity that helps build stronger communities. Instead of waiting for somebody to do something, these concerned citizens got involved and made things happen.
Our appreciation goes out to them.
