Education foundation tackles first projects for HS schools

The Hot Springs Public Schools Education Foundation recently tackled its first two projects to benefit the Hot Springs School District.

Q. Byrum Hurst, a school district alumni and chairman of the foundation’s board of trustees, said the organization is designed to “assist Hot Springs School District with matters that might be out of their budget, but very helpful to them in either being able to educate the students or to boost the morale of the staff, or to bring together a particular project.”

The foundation was founded in October 2017 but has been in the developmental stages of organizing and appointing a diversified board of trustees. With the groundwork now laid, Hurst said the foundation will be “really aggressive and energetic about fundraising activities so that we have enough resources available to help.”

“Schools work under a budget, and those budgets are pretty tight. So when a

school needs something, it’s good if they have a source other than their normal funded budget source. So that’s where we come into play,” he said.

Foundation board members intend to look to alumni, grants, individual contributions, and corporate donors for funds to support their endeavors. The foundation has also recruited the help of the district’s Education Advanced by Service and Technology students to design and set up a website for the foundation.

Hurst said he believes the district’s history puts it in a prime position to capitalize on its assets to become an elite school but just needs a bit of help occasionally.

“HSSD is recognized as one of the very few school districts in the United States that have had one of its graduates become president of the United States. People may not think of that, but really there’s only been 45 presidents, and one came out of this school district and was educated well enough to become a world leader, and still is. So that alone is significant,” he said.

As a 501(c)(3) designated nonprofit organization, the foundation has funded two projects thus far.

The first involved Hot Springs School District partnering with Fayetteville School District and Lakeside School District to place tracking microchips into select student volunteers’ backpacks. This pilot program was meant to be used as a safety feature for students who missed school buses, so they could be easily located if the student tried to walk to school or in the event of an abduction, as well as improve overall student safety.

The foundation’s second venture was a donation of canned foods to Project HOPE Food Bank.

The foundation’s board of trustees’ 14 members meet monthly to discuss which projects and causes to fund next. While anyone in the community can present an idea to the board, the trustees usually receive the most input from the district’s administrators and faculty.

The foundation’s next project will be a reception for Hot Springs teachers who are also alumni from 4-6 p.m. Feb. 26 in the school district’s administrative office, in the downstairs cafeteria.

Hurst said this type of teacher recognition and support is vital for the school district.

“We think that this is really good for morale. If you have a faculty that has a high morale, then not only does it make them better educators, but it also draws in better educators because they see that and say that they want to be a part of that. So we think it’s a really good thing,” he said.

Hurst said he and the foundation feel that its contributions will not only benefit the school district but all of Hot Springs.

“We are all firm believers that education is a primary tool in a lot of areas of our lives, including lowering the crime rate and also it evens spills over into the health area, because statistics show that people who are better educated take better care of themselves, and that’s less of a burden on society. I think it’s something that everyone will benefit from,” said Hurst.

Establishing a scholarship fund for all Hot Springs graduates is one of the foundation’s primary goals for the future.

“We’ve talked about hopefully doing what we would call the Trojan Promise. If you graduate from the HSSD, you’d be guaranteed a scholarship. We think those kinds of things are really good for education,” Hurst said.

“In years past, Arkansas has been a state that they look at the statistics of people who drop out of high school or earlier. Students and parents get discouraged sometimes and they think, ‘Well, I’m old enough to work. I’ll just drop out and get a job.’ We want them to know that if they will stay with the education process, that they may have the opportunity to get a scholarship even if they may not be an all-star athlete or academically talented enough to get an academic scholarship. They can get another form of scholarship,” Hurst said.

Though the foundation has just begun making contributions to the school district, the organization is already looking into the distant future.

“This is something that we hope will continue on for many generations,” said Hurst.