Giving educators additional tools and resources to supplement the learning environment is a key mission of the Texas Trust Gives Foundation.

Through the foundation, Texas Trust Credit Union funded $73,500 in grants supporting public school districts in North, East, and Central Texas.

Districts received grants ranging from $900 to nearly $15,000 to provide an array of programs that enrich learning and help students work toward a brighter financial future once they graduate and become independent.

Grants awarded this spring will be used to fund school projects in the 2024-2025 school year.

Through the foundation, Texas Trust has given out nearly $300,000 in grants to educators in the last five years.

The projects being funded through this grant cycle include:

The Arlington ISD received $13,950 for its Career and Technical Education Department to purchase mirrorless cameras. Used by professional photographers, these state-of-the-art cameras offer students the ability to learn using the most advanced camera technology available. The skills learned will enable students to prepare for careers in photography, visual and performing arts, design, journalism, and entertainment services.

Mansfield ISD was awarded $9,032 for two STEM projects. Through practical hands-on learning experiences in agriculture and entrepreneurship, students at the Donna Shepard Leadership Academy, will learn how to manage a garden and raise farm animals, financial literacy skills that teach budgeting and marketing, and healthy eating habits and sustainable agricultural practices for urban environments. The second project is the purchase of chicken incubators and feeding and watering systems for all of the district’s STEM campuses, to help foster an appreciation for science and the natural world by teaching students about the incubation process.

In Central Texas, San Angelo ISD received $8,381 in support of its fourth-grade reading program, which supports about 1,000 students. The grant will help the district continue providing books at no cost to students to encourage them to read, along with community pop-up events to increase awareness of the importance of literacy among families.

Other districts receiving grants were Athens in East Texas, Cedar Hill, DeSoto, Grand Prairie, Lewisville, and Midlothian.

“As a cooperative financial institution we are committed to helping others achieve their goals, dreams, and success,” said Washima Huq, Executive Director of the Texas Trust Gives Foundation. “Our work begins by supporting students to become successful in school, so that they will have the foundation needed to build brighter financial futures as adults.”

Huq added, “With budget cuts, economic challenges, and teacher shortages, our children are vulnerable to falling behind. Through our grants we are supporting the foundation of future generations that will one day be business and political leaders.”

The next grant cycle will open this summer. It will be a Community Impact grant for school districts and their education foundations for projects outside of the classroom such as a backpack food program, housing assistance, and back to school supplies.