Greenville ISD Superintendent Dr. Demetrus Liggins, Tools for School Executive Director Kristi Horne, Tools for School President and Director W.D. Hilton, Jr., and L3Harris Vice President of Operations Gary Smith celebrated during a check presentation for $25,000 to be used to support home internet for students. The funding came from a grant from the L3Harris Foundation. In addition, Tools for School contributed $20,000 of its own fundraising efforts to leverage the impact of the L3Harris Foundation grant.
Altrusans Karen Clark, Sheila Ellis, Rachael Driggers, Melva Hill, Carolyn McCullough, Bobbie Turrentine, and Julia Wensel join Dr. Liggins for a check presentation for $4,600. The donations were given by the Class of 1969, Altrusa International, and personal donors.
500 GISD students learning from home using high-speed internet, thanks to community partners
This fall, high-speed internet went from being a luxury to being a necessity, as students across the district engaged in virtual learning from home.
Approximately 500 GISD students are using high-speed internet to fully participate in hybrid and online learning from home, thanks to the generosity and combined effort of the following community groups:
Tools for School and the L3Harris Foundation: Tools for School was awarded a $25,000 social impact grant from the L3Harris Foundation. In addition, Tools for School contributed $20,000 of its own fundraising efforts to leverage the impact of the L3Harris Foundation grant. Tools for School was one of only 39 non-profit organizations to receive a social impact grant to provide relief to communities adversely affected by COVID-19. The L3Harris Foundation distributed grants in 19 states to organizations addressing issues like food insecurity, basic needs, veteran aid, educational access and mental resiliency. L3Harris Vice President of Operations Gary Smith, Tools for School President and Director W.D. Hilton, Jr. and Executive Director Kristi Horne represented the organizations at a recent GISD School Board meeting.
“We’re very grateful to L3Harris for their continued work in the community to provide for the students in Greenville and surrounding school districts,” Hilton said. “It’s great when private industry and businesses contribute to our schools, and it makes a real difference in the lives of our students.”
“Over half of our employees are local parents who have their kids in school,” Smith said. “We’re happy and proud anytime we can do anything that will support the community and in particular, the school.”
City of Greenville: The City Council voted unanimously to donate $54,262.50 from their CARES Act funds to specifically aide GISD in the purchase of hotspots and up to an additional $22,500 for in-home reliable internet through GEUS for families that don't have it or that may need it during the course of the 2020-21 school year due the pandemic. Mayor David Dreiling and City Manager Summer Spurlock represented the City at the recent GISD School Board meeting.
“It’s a pleasure for the City Council to help out the school system anywhere we can,” Dreiling said.
Class of 1969, Altrusa International, personal donors: GHS alum and Altrusa International President Melva Hill represented these groups at the meeting. The combined donations totaled $4,600.
“One of the main focuses of Altrusa is literacy, and so we wanted to make sure that we were trying to help these kids,” Hill said. “We are grateful to present this to the students of Greenville ISD with the hope that we can better their education.”
If you are the parent of a GISD student and would like more information about accessing internet services using hot spots or GEUS internet, please contact your child's campus counselor.
