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About the Foundation
The Longview ISD Foundation is a nonprofit, tax-exempt public corporation operating independently under a board of directors who serve without compensation. Members of the Foundation's Board of Directors represent a cross section of the community and are dedicated to our students and educators and their success.
The Foundation was founded in 1994 to provide additional funds beyond the normal operating budget for Longview ISD teachers, counselors, librarians and students. Donations to the Foundation are maintained locally and used to begin and/or enhance innovative academic programs and projects. Through the Great Rewards for Great Ideas Program, the Foundation improves student achievement, fosters innovation, and supports educators. By requesting contributions, the Foundation promotes community involvement from individuals, alumni, businesses, corporations, and school and civic organizations.
The Foundation also sponsors the annual Lamplighter Awards Banquet to honor educators and the students whose lives the educators have touched. All proceeds from this event benefit the Foundation's Great Rewards for Great Ideas Program, the Campus Initiative Grant Program, and the John W. Harrison, Jr. Academic Field Trip Grant Program.
Since 1996, the Great Rewards for Great Ideas Grant Program has funded 770 grants, returning $827,092.75 to LISD’s classrooms and enabling innovative teachers, counselors, librarians, and nurses to create new educational programs or to enhance existing ones so they can provide the best instruction possible to all students. These grants have funded programs and projects for students of all ability levels in a variety of disciplines. In addition to strengthening academics, the grants have also funded projects in music, art, technology, career education, STEAM education, character education, health and physical education, and guidance and counseling.
The Foundation has also funded fifty Campus Initiative Grants for a total of $151,265.68. The Foundation believes that this grant program, targeting overall campus improvement, complements the Foundation’s annual Great Rewards for Great Ideas Program.
In fall 2018, the Longview ISD Foundation began the John W. Harrison, Jr. Academic Field Trip Grant, named in the memory of the late Mr. John Harrison who served on the Longview ISD school board for over forty years. The Academic Field Trip Grant provides funding for up to $7,000 for fourth and fifth grade students and middle school students so they can travel for learning experiences that reinforce and expand what they have learned in the classroom. The Foundation has funded fourteen John W. Harrison, Jr. Academic Field Trip Grants for fourth and fifth grade and middle school students for a total of $61,733.74. Students have extended their classroom learning at the Perot Museum in Dallas, NASA in Houston, the LBJ Presidential Library in Austin, the Bullock Texas State HIstory Museum in Austin, the Texas Military Forces Museum in Austin, the state capitol building in Austin, the Stephen F. Austin State University Planetarium, iFly, Sky Ranch, the Caldwell Zoo, Texas State Technical Institute, and the SciPort Discovery Center.
Through its three grant programs, the Longview ISD Foundation has returned a grand total of $1,042,092.19 to LISD classrooms and campuses in its twenty-eight-year history.
The Longview ISD Foundation also offers continuing education scholarships to Longview ISD educators who wish to remain in the classroom and provide direct services to students. The Foundation especially wants to help educators who are pursuing advanced degrees and certification in critical teaching shortage areas, such as bilingual education, science, and math. The Foundation also wants to help educators who are teaching in the district's STEM and STEAM education programs.
The Longview ISD Foundation also offers college and technical school scholarships to Longview High School seniors, awarding five to eight $1,000 scholarship per year through the Foundation's Lobo Memorial Scholarship Fund. The Foundation has awarded a total of $191,000 in scholarships, proudly helping students continue their education and success.