Good News!  Our community is generously supporting CEF’s efforts to make a difference in the lives of young people! It’s happening through the creation of scholarships for trade school and college along with generating classroom grants for special projects to enhance learning in the classroom—elementary through high school.

Maybe you’ve impacted our growth through a donation to the general fund, made a memorial gift, baked a cake that we auctioned off in one of our community fundraisers, or raced a rubber duck down the Colorado River! For this, we extend sincere thanks. All of these actions add up to increased OPPORTUNITY for CISD students!

CEF is growing at an incredible pace. Along with teachers and counselors, we’re working hard to impact futures by encouraging students to think more about career choices at an earlier age. In 2024, our contacts included grades 9-12. We provided eye-opening comparisons on the positive lifetime effects of post-high school education (trade school and/or college), costs, time investment, salary potential, etc.

New money from community support resulted in more than $30,000 for college and trade school scholarships awarded to May 2024 graduates.  

We need your help to provide more scholarships. It happens through donations of any size since smaller donations meld into key scholarships. A scholarship can be a tipping point to positively affect an entire lifetime. Since scholarships enabled me to attend college after graduation from CHS, I’m especially passionate about this subject. Another passion is encouraging students to explore options such as trade school or tech training since not every graduate has the resources or inclination to attend college.

Classroom Grants are part of our two-fold mission. These grants are dedicated to supporting special projects that enrich the classroom learning experience. Too often, a teacher’s budget is depleted before a dream project can be considered. CEF awarded its first grants in December 2023 from funds specifically donated to the Classroom Grants program. It was a small beginning, totaling $3,600 to six teachers on three campuses. We’re excited to announce that we’ve already doubled that amount for the next award cycle!

Please tell your friends, family, and co-workers about CEF. If you’d like to set up a scholarship as a memorial or a named scholarship for your family or business, call 979-733-2122 or email us. We look forward to working with you.

Thank you for your support as we work together to brighten futures!