“I love Marshall...”

Since 2011, the Marshall Education Foundation has maintained their original purpose and pursuit to aid the education of Marshall ISD children and enrich the lives of the community by delivering incentives and grants to improve the educational environment of Marshall ISD schools.

The foundation’s volunteer members primarily raise funding through community events such as the Back the Mavs T-Shirt fundraiser, the Maverick Honors Banquet – a top 10 percent celebration that honors distinguished alumni – and the renewed Merry Maverick 5K run. While these fundraisers are crucial to the foundation’s mission of aiding education at Marshall ISD, the support from the local community and business sponsorships have resulted in a network of like-minded people all coming together alongside the foundation to make a lasting impact beyond the classroom.

Though the Marshall Education Foundation is not affiliated with the school district directly, the charter of the organization mandates that all funds raised must be used to aid the educational pursuits of children who attend Marshall ISD. The most difficult challenge for the Board of Directors, since the organization’s founding has been trying to fulfill every request they receive.

“It’s sometimes challenging to figure out how we can best utilize the funds. We want to be good custodians and we want to support our teachers and students in the best way,” said Godwin. “It’s hard to just decide, and that to me is our biggest challenge.”

If you are interested in lending your support to the Marshall Education Foundation, you can learn more through the organization’s Facebook page or their official website at www. BackTheMavs.com where you can donate money, become a sponsor or even learn where to volunteer at their next event.

Through the years of support for students and after tens of thousands of dollars given back to the district, the Marshall Education Foundation has become a tight-knit community. Together, they embody the positive impact that only local support systems can bring and highlight why Marshall can be such a special place for so many. The Marshall Education Foundation has ultimately become like a family to those who are involved. Members do more than just benefit their com- munity, they help each other, and in doing so, foster a future that we can all be more proud of.

“I want Marshall ISD to be the premiere district in East Texas, which makes our town the premier place you want to be,” explained Scott. “That’s something we’re very passionate about and every single person in the Marshall Education Foundation feels the same way.”

“I have always felt this passion to volunteer, to be involved in the community. It always was just something I felt like I had to do,” said Godwin. “But from the very first meeting at the Marshall Education Foundation I was like okay I get it, this is what passion feels like.”