The KDP Educational Foundation received many gifts from you, our supporters, during the 2007–2008 fiscal year. The Foundation financially supports all the scholarships, grants, and programs. But it’s you, our faithful donors, who provide the funding to make all those wonderful things a reality. Without your continued support, scholarships and grants are not given, people who need us are not helped, and we risk losing some of the best and brightest educators from our classrooms.

Scholarships. Thanks to the generosity of many individual, chapter, and corporate donors, the KDP Educational Foundation was able to offer 43 national scholarships and awards to undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral student members. Scholarships range in value from $500 to $4,000, with most scholarships awarded at $1,000 or greater. The number of scholarship applications increased by 16 percent this past year.
Through an exciting new partnership with EF Educational Tours, the Foundation was additionally able to offer 20 all-inclusive educational tours to many destinations around the world. Undergraduate students traveled during the summer and visited countries such as Egypt, China, Australia, Italy, Greece, and Peru.

One new fully funded scholarship was established this past fiscal year and will be available for the 2008–2009 scholarship season—the Jerry Robbins Scholarship in Instrumental Music Education.

Grants. Pre-K–12 practicing teacher members applied for Classroom Teacher Grants through the Foundation, and they used the funds for creative and innovative projects in their classrooms. The Foundation is continuing to effect change in classrooms across the country by funding projects such as an outdoor reading and gardening center, a personal dictionary project, and an exploration of Spanish through cooking.

Chapter Challenge. Chapter fund-raising for the Foundation reached an all-time high. Chapters from across the country met the Chapter Challenge, resulting in more than $31,000 in contributions.

Chapter Grants. Chapters also helped the Foundation excel by participating in the chapter grant program, which encourages chapters to contribute to the Foundation and endow a gift between $2,500 and $25,000. From this endowment, an annual chapter grant is awarded indefinitely to the local chapter. Thus far, 32 chapters have fully funded a chapter grant—more than doubling what was available last fiscal year. Additionally, 12 more chapters have pledged financial support toward the program.

Administration. The Kappa Delta Pi Educational Foundation’s 2007–2008 fiscal year was a year of transitions. The first transition was in the position of Director of Development. The Foundation was without a director for several months. Then, in May 2008, Michael Pirnat, assumed this role. He brings to the KDP Educational Foundation more than 12 years of professional fund-raising experience. Prior to becoming a development professional, he was a stockbroker and financial planner for 20 years. A second transition was in the area of portfolio management. Steve Smith, Senior Vice President at Smith Barney, brings a portfolio management style that is more closely aligned with the Foundation’s requirements.
As we enter the 2008–2009 fiscal year, we already can see some of the challenges that await us. It’s going to be a bumpy ride, to say the least. However, we have an exciting new initiative that is attracting a lot of interest in the world of education. Through KDP Connect, new teachers will have more support and resources than ever before to help them succeed in their new profession. Experienced teachers also will benefit from the additional resources that will be made available through this exciting new program. Moreover, students studying to be educators will have a variety of new resources to turn to for assistance.
As exciting and innovative as this new initiative is, it is going to require more funding to move forward. Surely, as you learn more details about the program, you will be willing to invest in its success. Each of you is asked to think of connections you may have with corporations, foundations, and other individuals interested in helping to improve our children’s and grandchildren’s education by supporting and sustaining our best teachers. You may either ask those individuals to contact Mike Pirnat, or you may contact him directly at 317-829-1542 or mike@kdp.org to learn the specifics on how to help.