Monitor Photo/Carla Gray
The Mabank Education Foundation awards 19 grants, totaling $59,000, to teachers and campuses Jan. 5 during the district wide convocation held at the Dr. Russell D. Marshall Performing Arts Center at the high school.

MABANK‑ Each January, when teachers and staff return after the holidays, the Mabank Education Foundation (MEF) awards grants to teachers, staff and campuses. This year the foundation awarded 19 grants Jan. 5.
Applications for grants are due to MEF in October. At that time, the MEF Board of Directors makes the difficult decision about which grants get funded. MEF Executive Director Tonya Chapman said, “This school year we received more than 60 grant applications. Of those, 41 were approved for consideration and those applications, represented nearly $200,000 in ideas and opportunities for our students.”
Chapman stated that the grant selection committee struggled to select the 19 winners this year solely due to the budget being $55,000; the committee was able to come up with an additional $4,000 to round out the total. According to Chapman, the top donators are district employees. Various other donations are made through fundraisers that MEF holds throughout the year. If you would like to donate go to https://www.misdef.com/.