The AEF allows donors to fund individual projects of interest. Projects must fit the AEF goals/mission and meet the approval of the AEF Board and AISD administration.

 

Present and Accounted For:

The AEF currently administers funds for a new program begun in 2005 called "Present and Accounted For." This innovative program encourages students to maintain good attendance which helps not only in student academic performance but also in enrollment based State-funding allocations for AISD schools. It is based on a schedule of incentives designed to reward students for improvements in attendance each 6 weeks. Funds are raised by a community committee and treated by the AEF as a donor directed initiative. Donors include a wide variety of local businesses and individuals.

 

Reading For Success Initiative:

During the 2002-2003 school year, the AEF approved the donor directed project Reading For Success, a pilot program serving the third grade class of Lee Elementary. This project was made possible with an anonymous donation along with gifts from the Abilene Teacher's Federal Credit Union, the Abilene Black Coordinating Council and Rick and Carolyn's Burgers and Fries.

At the donor's request, an AISD elementary school was chosen to begin an aggressive reading program involving mentors and reading incentives for the third grade students and their teachers in preparation for the new state-mandated Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) test.  Beginning in the Spring of 2003, each third grade child was required to pass the reading portion of the TAKS test in order to receive promotion to fourth grade. The goal of Reading for Success was 100% passage rate of the reading portion of TAKS and an overall increase in enthusiasm and love of reading.AISD administrators chose Lee Elementary as the site for the first year of this pilot program.  A committee made up of Lee's third grade teachers, the principal, parent representatives and the school's curriculum coordinator designed the program.

The AEF is pleased to report that as of May 2003, 97% of all Lee Elementary third graders passed the TAKS reading test and were made eligible for promotion to 4th grade. We thank our financial partners for making this important program possible. We are especially grateful for the hard work provided by AISD project coordinator Brenda Follis, Partners in Education coordinator MaryAnn Martin and Deputy Superintendent of Instructional Services Kay McMahon. Their countless hours of preparation combined with the diligence of the Lee third grade teachers and the critical volunteer reading mentors made this program a huge success.