In 1988 the Cache Education Foundation was co-founded by the Cache County School District and Dell Loy Hansen. On Monday, the foundation celebrated 30 years of helping teachers and students while also thanking donors who have contributed over the past three decades. The celebration took place amid brightly-decorated Christmas trees and wreaths in the Riverwoods Conference Center in conjunction with the foundation’s annual Christmas Tree Jubilee fundraiser.
“For our 30th anniversary, it was a great opportunity for us to honor and recognize our major donors who support us year after year,” said Cache Education Foundation Executive Director Teri Lewis.
Those donors included Cache County School District, Cache Valley Bank, Campbell Scientific, Conservice, Dell Loy Hansen, ICON Health and Fitness, David and Lynette Jenkins, Juniper Systems, LazyOne, Nucor and Young Toyota. Lewis said these donors have made significant contributions to help with technology grants, scoreboards, band and orchestra, Tools for Schools, student scholarships, teacher appreciation and many other programs supported by the foundation. Over $8 million dollars has been raised by the foundation over its 30 years, with 100% of those funds going directly to teachers and schools in the Cache County School District.
“Our Christmas Tree Jubilee specifically raises funds for technology,” said Lewis. “All of the schools can apply for technology grants. This is a way for them to boost their technology needs that they normally don’t have a budget for.”
Lewis said the foundation helps fill in the gaps for teachers by providing resources that aren’t in a school’s budget. Those resources can include technology (like Chromebooks, projectors, calculators, etc), hands-on manipulatives at the elementary level, and other educational tools. Lewis said those resources have a large impact on how students can learn.