The magic doesn’t stop there. Donna Gurney, the 2016-2017 president of Executive Women International ewi), believes that something special happened when she phoned SBISD out of the blue and asked for a Title 1 school that could use outside support from an organization like EWI of Houston. Spring Branch Elementary was the top response.
That elementary school was the campus where her own mom, Dorothy Greer, was a principal. Mrs. Greer, who retired 28 years ago, served as a principal at Bendwood, Spring Branch and Edgewood elementaries, and was also a district primary coordinator for elementary level schools.
The road to this first-time SBISD donation began with a car raffle, oddly enough.
The nonprofit organization EWI had held a fundraising raffle in partnership with one of its member firms, the local Sewell Automotive Group. A real success, the Car for Every Season raffle raised $10,000. The lucky winner won the chance to drive four luxury cars – a Cadillac, Audi, Infiniti and Mercedes-Benz.
Everything came full circle on Oct. 11 during a Spring Branch Elementary meeting when school Principal Lynn Austin, Gurney and Sewell Cadillac’s General Manager Dennis Nobles talked about the first-time donation to the historic elementary campus.
EWI’s literacy donation will pay for new library books, classroom libraries and Lucy Calkins Reading and Writing Project texts for grades 3-5, and book carts and bins to aid with storage and use across the campus.
“It’s a wonderful day at Spring Branch Elementary!” exclaimed Principal Austin at a special campus program to announce the gift. “We’re so thrilled that Executive Women International and Sewell are able to touch the lives of so many students by providing a gift that will continue to benefit students for years to come.”
Houston’s EWI chapter is the largest and one of the strongest fundraising groups in the nation. It raises and donates tens of thousands of dollars annually, and has ties across the region to school districts and with similar philanthropies, including once with the well-known Barbara Bush Foundation.
An invitation-only based group, EWI focuses on literacy initiatives as well as group interests around careers and networking for women executives and professionals. Gurney works at JLT Specialty USA, an insurance brokerage company.
When Spring Branch Elementary was chosen for the literacy donation, Gurney and other members from Sewell met with Principal Lynn Austin, interventionists Allison Burt and Chaquitha Cherry, and librarian Dika Sanders to match the gift with needs.
It was important to EWI to find a local school due to Sewell Cadillac’s Spring Branch business location near Dairy Ashford and I-10 freeway.
“At Executive Women International of Houston, we do take great pride in the fact that literacy initiatives are a very important part of our organization,” Gurney told the school faculty. “We feel blessed and honored to be able to give this gift to you and we hope you all are as excited as we are to assist your school in advancing the literacy level of your students. This would never have been possible if not for the generosity of Sewell Automotive Group, a member firm in our EWI organization.”
Sewell General Manager Nobles said that the dealership focuses on its customer service and employee training, concepts that aren’t too far off from educational goals.
“You are training students for academic success,” he said at the gift’s announcing. “You want to give them all the things they need, the tools for success. We wanted to reach out and give you the resources you need to do that. We want this to help your students become our (Sewell) future leaders.”
EWI is glad to see that their donation will help students through direct book buys, but also support teachers with purchases like the popular and much desired Lucy Calkins reading and writing series for the elementary upper grades.
“We wanted to have books go to students, but we also realize what a huge impact teachers have on literacy and learning. We believe the donation will help teachers be better teachers, and we believe that the impact of great teachers are certainly tremendous,” Gurney also said.
To learn more about Executive Women International of Houston:
http://www.ewihouston.org/
To learn more about Sewell Cadillac of Houston:
http://www.sewellcadillac-houston.com/
No comments:
Post a Comment
Do you have feedback? Tell us.