A nonprofit foundation that was established last year to help finance a child care center in Hopkinsville is growing with a broader purpose in support of public education.
The Christian County Public Schools Education Foundation announced its mission, introduced its executive director and thanked major donors during a luncheon Tuesday at the Silo Event Center. About 200 people, including a few dozen public officials, attended the event billed as Champions for Education.
School Superintendent Chris Bentzel used a personal story to explain why he believes Christian County needs an education foundation.
He recalled a morning a few years ago when he was preparing his young children for a test day. He drove them to Millbrooke Elementary School, confident he and his wife had done what was needed to prepare them — which included everything from getting a good night’s sleep to having nutritious meals and arriving at school on time. Then he drove 5 miles across town to another elementary school and saw a boy getting out of a car who appeared not at all prepared for the day. He looked lost.
Bentzel said that in the span of 15 minutes he had witnessed “two totally different situations” in the same county.
“We have to do better. And it’s not just the school system,” said Bentzel, standing next to photos of students projected onto a large screen . “It’s all of us — because these are the people who are counting on us.”
He described the foundation as one way the district can better connect with the community and make residents aware of the needs of students.
He added, “The question you have to ask yourself today is, are these wonderful students … the future of our community? Are they going to be students that are employed or unemployed? Are they going to be homeowners or homeless? Are they going to be taxpayers or are we going to be paying taxes for their incarceration? Are we going to give them hope or are they going to be hopeless?”
Since it was created in January 2023, the foundation has raised $428,300 in donations and pledges — the bulk coming from seven Legacy Partners who each promised $50,000 over five years. They are Arnold Farms, F&M Bank, H&R Agri Power, Higgins Insurance, Jennie Stuart Health, Planters Bank and Bill and Kaye Munday.
Angie Major, who has been an advocate for public education and a parent volunteer in the school system for several years, is the foundation’s executive director. Major is the former director of Workforce and Education Development at the Christian County Chamber of Commerce. Prior to the chamber job, Major worked for Kentucky Derby Hosiery for 19 years computer programmer analyst. She earned a bachelor’s degree in business from Austin Peay State University.
Major told Hoptown Chronicle that she’s been encouraged by the number of business leaders willing to contribute money to the foundation in the first year.
There are approximately 47 other school districts in Kentucky that have a nonprofit foundation supporting a range of projects, including classroom needs, teacher incentives and student support.
Initially the local foundation provided funding to create Inspire Early Learning Academy, a child care center housed at Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School to address a shortage of child care options that followed the closure of facilities during the coronavirus pandemic. Inspire opened in August and currently serves about 60 children of school employees and local industry workers.
“We’re happy at the foundation to be a conduit between the people in this community who have a caring heart and want to see the school system do better,” said foundation board chairman Bill Munday.
“The foundation can do everything that you people can think up for us to do, he said. “There are a lot of projects that the school does not have money to do that you can do.”
Nonprofit foundations maintain their finances separate from organizations or government entities that they support. However, for comparison, the money the education foundation has raised so far, including pledges, is equal to approximately 0.3% of the school district’s current working budget of $143.4 million.
Munday, a longtime community benefactor and retired executive with the Hopkinsville office of Hilliard Lyons (now Baird), serves on the board with retired school district employee Tracey Pelletier and parent representative Noelle Robinson. Pelletier, the foundation’s treasurer, was a teacher and later served as the school system’s technology director. She retired in 2019 after 32 years in the district. Robinson is the foundation’s secretary.
Major said the foundation will focus its efforts in three areas: student progress, employee retention, and parent and community engagement.
Giving levels for the foundation include: Legacy, $50,000 or more; Champion, $25,000 to $49,999; Advocate, $10,000 to $24,999; Community, $1,000 to $9,999; and Friend, $999.
Eventually the foundation board will be accepting grant applications from teachers and others who have ideas for initiatives in the local schools.
Additional information is available by emailing Major at ccpseducationfoundation@gmail.com.
This story was originally published by the Hoptown Chronicle.
