Bill Elliott made known his strong and unequivocal support Thursday for public education and Nacogdoches Independent School District.
“Education is a great investment,” Elliott said. “We must educate every student to their maximum potential, regardless of their economic status.”
And the founder of Nacogdoches-based Elliott Electric Supply then made a financial commitment, pledging to the Nacogdoches ISD Education Foundation to match up to $500,000, allowing the three-year-old fundraising group to kick off a capital campaign that could add $1 million to its coffers.
Ed Pool, NEF’s Vice President of Development, let everyone in on the news Thursday during a celebration held downtown at Commercial Bank of Texas’ Baxter Events Center. That included the promise from Elliott and the Micky Elliot Foundation, as well as two other significant financial commitments from Nacogdoches firms.
Eaton Corp., in the midst of a $100 million expansion of its Nacogdoches facility, provided a check for $11,000, directed towards early childhood literacy programs and high-tech classes in the district’s Career and Technical Education Department.
NEF Executive Director Erin Windham then told attendees the news she learned earlier in the day – a $50,000 gift from Citizens 1st Bank and James Perkins that immediately becomes $100,000 because of Elliott’s commitment to the Foundation.
“Although you’ll hear me talk about funding, money, and dollars, what I truly see in my mind are children, students, and families,” Windham said. “The real work happening on our campuses – and the true payoff – is the disruption of generational poverty, the creation of abundant job opportunities and real options for our young people, and, ultimately, a thriving community.”
The capital campaign will drastically alter the landscape and arc of the now three-year-old education foundation. The money would provide the capability to fund large-scale projects within Nacogdoches ISD, all for the benefit of the district’s 5,800 students and more than 500 teachers, Windham said.
Attendees at the kick off event heard from NISD teachers – on video and in person. Thomas J. Rusk Elementary instructor Emily Drewery described the NEF’s impact on her class of fifth-graders, which has received three grants for programs that would typically fall outside of normal appropriations by the district.
One of those projects, an escape room exercise that aligns with the high-level math lessons being taught by Drewery, immerses students into an action-packed project that has them enthusiastically using fundamentals learned in the classroom. Translation: Students are using math and having fun while doing it.
The Nacogdoches ISD Education Foundation was created in 2021 as a way to direct money to classroom projects that might fall outside the scope of the district’s operating budget. Initial fundraising projects were, for the most part, paid for with contributions from Nacogdoches ISD teachers and staff.
In the fall of 2022, NEF made its first awards, mini grants directed towards classrooms for small projects implemented by teaching staff. In Spring of 2023, the Foundation made its first larger, innovative grant awards of up to $1,500 per award.
Windham also said before the Foundation took its campaign to the wider Nacogdoches area, NISD staff had already bought in, pledging more than $60,000 during the first three years of NEF’s existence.
Money raised by the Foundation funds a number of initiatives within the district, such as grants to teachers and staff that would pay for innovative projects to benefit NISD students, Windham said. The Foundation is a 501(c)(3) organization, and all contributions are tax deductible.