ROBERTSDALE, Ala. — When concerned parents, teachers and community leaders got together two years ago to talk about how to support and enhance educational opportunities in Central Baldwin County Schools, they had no idea the direction it would take them and that just over the horizon was an educational crisis no one could have predicted.

“When we started, we were concerned about helping kids go to college and giving them the tools to do that. Now, with all the economic problems we are having, our focus is trying to get funding for the basic classroom needs as well as still providing scholarship opportunities,” said Brenda Gates, former CBEF President and current member of Board of Directors.

At organizational meetings held at the Loxley Civic Center in May, 2008, Elmer Mc Daniel of the Baldwin County Board of Education expressed concern about a foundation for Central Baldwin and two months later, the CBEF was formed.

“Brenda (Gates) organized us and led the way filing all the paperworfk. A couple of our principals were very excited about getting us started and held meetings at all seven on our feeder schools,” said Jamie Hardy, CBEF President.

Starting out with a few members and growing to 62 in two years, the CBEF now has an office at the Central Baldwin Chamber of Commerce to hold their monthly meetings.

“We are very fortunate to have a place to hold our meetings now thanks to the generosity and support of the City of Robertsdale and it will be easier to conduct business and get the community involved in what we are doing,” said Hardy.

Excited about the opportunities ahead for the new year, Hardy and the rest of the board have a few goals they want to achieve.

-To enhance academic excellence in the Central Baldwin area schools by providing funding which is not available through traditional local, state or federal sources.

- To provide opportunities for teachers and staff to develop innovative projects through grants

- To invest in programs that have a positive impact on student success

- To encourage a continued interest in and support of public education through a network of business, individual and community support

- To seek and cultivate funding sources for educational excellence

In order to achieve these goals, CBEF has fundraisers and partners with community leaders and businesses who provide funding throughout the year. One of the biggest fundraisers is the Honeybee 5K and Fun Run held each October. This year’s race was very successful and had a great response from the community, said CBEF members. There was also a rifle raffle held by Campbell’s Hardware, a CBEF partner.

There are four different levels of partnerships with CBEF: Platinum, $2,500 and greater, Gold, $1,000-$2,499, Silver, $500-$999, Bronze, $150-$499 and Patron, $25. To become a member or a partner, visit cbef.org and fill out an application. Hardy said they are always looking for new members.

“We have been very fortunate to have some really great support form the community since we began. The City of Robertsdale has been with us since the beginning and so has many others. They see the need and work with us on how to meet it,” said Hardy.

One of the ways CBEF helps is through block grants given out each Fall and Spring to each school in the Central Baldwin feeder pattern.

“These grants are based on school enrollment and fund basic needs not provided by the school system,” Hardy explained. “Schools with less than 500 students would receive $500 and those with over 500 would receive $1,000.

Some examples of what the grant money bought are: character trait DVD’s, science and International festival materials, audio books, ink cartridges, camcordergraphing calculators, AR and STAR upgrades, National Geographic, “We Both Read” books and “Stop the Drop” program materials, according to the website.

Any member can apply for the grants and the deadline for Spring 2011 is March 16.

Another way CBEF is working with schools is by allowing Robertsdale High School’s Multimedia Design Class taught by Mr. McCrady to design their new website.

“This is a win-win situation for both of us. We help them get experience learning and working with computers and we get a great new website. We would love to be able to do more of that with each of the schools,” Hardy said.

Many of the grants awarded in the past year have been for technology and enhancing classroom learning, especially for middle and high school. “These schools do not get Title One funding like elementary schools so they rely a lot on grants to get the things they need,” Grant said.

Hardy said Central Baldwin Schools rank fourth in academics in the state but Alabama ranks 46th in the county for education. “We have some really smart, talented kids in our schools and we are trying to do what we can as a community to educate them and increase their critical thinking skills. There is a big gap in our funding and we need to be able to have more financial resources available. We need to get into the grant writing business.,”

All feeder patterns have a education foundation that work in the local schools and many came together as a collective voice with the “penny tax” initiative in March and the “Yes We Can” Coalition, Hardy said.

“Our organization is a vital tool for the local community and it’s becoming very clear we need to do more to help our kids succeed in today’s world. We realize not every kid is gonna go to college so we are trying to get grants for career and technical training too so those students can benefit as well. We need to educate, send out and get them to return to the community” Hardy said.

In addition to the funding crisis in the schools, Hardy said the poverty rate is up, with 88 percent of students on free or reduced lunch in the area. “We are not talking about generational poverty either, this is first-time poverty. We realize the importance of education now more than ever. “

Tutoring programs in the schools and securing grants for special education students are some other goals CBEF wants to achieve in the coming year and getting more of the community involved is the hoper of Brenda Pierce, CBEF Vice President.

“Supporting education in our schools would bring the community together and provide a better quality of life for our students,” Piece said, who has over 20 years of experience as a principal, teacher and federal programs coordinator at the Central Office.

CBEF also meets every other month with Central Baldwin principals to get ideas on what the schools are needing. Their five member Board of Directors include Jamie Hardy, President, Brenda Pierce, Vice President, Sam Driver, Treasurer, Cheryl Pischek, Secretary and Donna Gates, First President.

“There are some exciting things going on at the foundation and I am glad to say some younger people are getting involved and interested in what we are doing, People who went to RHS and have come back to the community to work and live, Those who have roots in the county and are concerned about making this community and schools the best they can be,” Hardy said.

To learn more about the CBEF, visit cbef.org. or CBEF on Facebook.