District foundation reports $96,000 grant approval, $131,000 teacher sponsorships and new scholarship fund

Kirk Ross, board member of the Dickinson Public Schools Foundation, and Paula Williams, foundation director, presented the foundation’s annual update to the Dickinson Public School District board, outlining grants, scholarships and new operations.

Paula Williams summarized recent activity and finances, saying the foundation has historically impacted about $750,000 in grants and that “this year…we had $96,000 approved, for our grama program.” She said the foundation also accepted $19,000 from a family to seed a new named scholarship and allocated matching funds to create a Dickinson Public Schools Foundation Scholarship.

Williams credited Triad Energy Cooperative with providing roughly $131,000 in teacher sponsorships that directly funded classroom needs. She also said the foundation doubled income from its Mystery Theater fundraiser compared with the prior year, hosted alumni and reunion events at the high school, launched a new website and moved into office space on the second floor of the Southwest Career Technical Education Center.

The foundation said it will continue to support classroom initiatives (library, STEM, SEL materials), early childhood, student wellness and teacher professional development. Board members thanked the foundation for its work and were invited to bring ideas for foundation support for district programs; the foundation requested that the district notify it if administrators find needs that align with the foundation’s mission.