Executive director of the Decatur Public Schools Foundation
Hometown: Columbus, Ohio. It probably hurts in terms of local fundraising, but my full disclosure to new donors is always, 'Yes.' I am a Buckeye fan. Big time.
Family: Wife, Julienne, and children, Athena, Caius, Hadrian and Noah. Julienne studied the classics and archaeology. Hence the unusual names. Also, a dozen horses.
Education: Miami University, Oxford, Ohio
My “I’d rather be …” bumper sticker would read? My ACTUAL bumper sticker says United States Equestrian Federation. So I’ll go with “I'd rather be at a horse show.” Or maybe just “at the farm.” I’m already frequently doing what I like to be doing.
Hobbies/interests: I studied creative writing and also cinema in school, and still think of myself first as a writer. I’ve done feature articles for a local magazine since 2001 and always have a book project or short story on the backburner. I worked with an educator to ghost-write a history of the Anglo-Saxon mindset (I’m not kidding) and also collaborated with another writer on a novel about the poet Robert Burns, although I was really unhappy with the draft of the latter that was published. It’s an allegorical account of where the Kennedy clan’s awful luck originated.
People are also reading…
We have a historic farm property with a 1919 Craftsman home and a billion hardwood trees around it. So between that and a separate horse farm, our whole day-to-day existence is a hobby.
My first job: Apprenticeship with a horse trainer. In truth, I did work with the young horses some, but mostly I cleaned a lot of stalls. Earning your stripes is a universal rite of passage.
Why I do what I do: I have the very best job in the world. For 10 or 11 years I’ve worked in development activities to raise funds that go directly to help young people. For about nine years that meant supporting mentoring for at-risk kids. Since I joined the Foundation, it means supporting academic enrichment activities that engage students in exploratory learning.
Personal approaches to challenges: Challenges are like unpleasant people. They’re out there, you’re going to run into them, but if you pay attention you can learn from the encounter.
Community involvement: I was a Big Brother mentor for six years, and since 2007 we’ve hosted youth groups, Girl Scouts, Easter Seals, Decatur Christian and other school groups at the farm, where we have separate organic garden plots to plant and woods to explore. When our original partners envisioned how to use the land, the notion was to create a park setting where city kids got to experience the natural world.
What is the Decatur Public Schools Foundation? We operate to put private resources to work in the community’s public school system. We do this by underwriting special projects, especially creative initiatives that District 61 can’t fund within the regular operating budget.
Why is having such an organization important? I don’t think anybody’s operating under the delusion that our state is particularly adept at funding public education. It also doesn’t look like we can expect a lot of new federal support to magically appear. So that creates hard choices for a school board and district leadership when defining priorities. If an education foundation can sustain important programs, if we can encourage innovative teaching and learning, if we can help ease some of that very real burden by closing gaps in enrichment funding, if we can help identify partnerships to support emerging needs, then we have a chance to make a real impact.
Where does the Foundation's money come from? Our organization has been stable since it was established in 1997, partly due to the diversity of revenue streams. During the last fiscal year, the dollars were spread this way – 12 percent from corporate partners, 10 percent from special events and grants administration, 22 percent from investments or interest and 56 percent from individual donors. That last category should jump out at you. This is an amazing community. Some places people give to different organizations but they don’t really get involved. In Decatur we have the opposite – community leaders who really, truly care about the city and who care about those in it who have fewer opportunities. They write checks every single year to support a number of important causes, but they also roll their sleeves up and get directly involved. People maybe don’t appreciate that enough about our town.
How do you decide where those funds are spent? Are teachers involved? Teachers, principals, counselors and coaches are the lifeblood of any school system. They’re the ones who make it happen. They’re the ones kids think of when someone says “school.” So a huge priority for us is focusing on their needs and trying to support them any way we can. One part of our programming is funding for grant projects designed and implemented by teachers. Our grant committee reviews applications each month, then reports to the Foundation Board of Trustees with recommendations. The trustees vote to fund these projects, and teachers report back on the impact at the end of the school year.
Can donors say how they want their donations used? Absolutely. This is tremendously important. We think of support for the public schools as a conversation rather than a transaction. People contribute to the Foundation because they know our organization will be a good steward of the funds, and will invest the dollars in the way that’s most significant to them. Responsibility for fund procurement and actual management belongs to the board of trustees, but the superintendent and school board president have seats so that they can provide insight as to how these efforts will best support the district’s strategic direction.
Give us some examples of projects made possible by the Foundation. The range of activities we support is really broad. We invested about $550,000 last year across 119 distinct projects. This represents about a $62 contribution per student, versus a national average of approximately $22. Many of the projects were teacher grants. Examples: 30 separate Earth Day activities sponsored by ADM, drama grants, trips to the Challenger space center in Bloomington, the Smoky Mountain Music Festival, a special education exercise program, varied STEM activities and a whole lot of literacy initiatives. It would scare you to know how small the art budget is per child. To address that reality, we consult with donors who have interests in visual or performing arts, who then designate that their dollars go to meet those needs. We have a major local benefactor who believes in the importance of science activities that spark student interest, even when the state’s emphasis on science is shrinking. He funds two separate programs each year, in addition to support for musical activities. We also maintain a library of more than 250 instruments to lend to disadvantaged students in band and orchestra, thanks to a partnership with the Symphony Guild. Funding for field trips has dried up, so our Trustees have adjusted to begin providing some transportation. The Kids + Books = Success initiative is completely Decatur-funded, and replaced the Reading Is Fundamental program (which used to be federally provided, but disappeared in 2012). This year we coordinated private donors to construct a Technology Education Center where teachers can gather for coaching on how to effectively implement new advancements in the classroom. Land of Lincoln Credit Union sponsored a $2,500 scholarship to the winner of the first DPS Film Festival. There really is a lot happening. It’s hard to give a real picture of the scope. But these are some representative examples.
How can I get involved with the Foundation? The most straightforward approach is to call me or send an email and begin a conversation at zshields@dps61.org and (217) 424-3300.
