Education Foundation holding annual gala Saturday
By LYNETTE SOWELL
Cove Leader-Press
The Copperas Cove Education Foundation is rolling out the red carpet on Saturday night for the __ annual Boots ‘N Buckles Gala.
This year’s theme is Run For The Roses, and with the first Saturday in May and the Kentucky Derby just weeks away, ladies are invited to wear hats befitting the occasion.
The annual event serves as a fundraiser for the foundation, which since 2008 has awarded a total of $270,043 in grants to CCISD teachers, with 31 educators at nine different campuses being awarded grants totaling $38,494 in 2016.
Teaching grants recipients, who submit proposals to the foundation during the application time period, get to spend their funds on innovative classroom ideas and programs that directly impact students.
The foundation also honors the top 10 percent of Copperas Cove High School seniors in an annual Senior Walk of Fame each May, along with teachers who have had the greatest impact on their education, as chosen by the students.
Tickets to Saturday’s event are $50 per person. Doors open at the Copperas Cove Civic Center at 6:30 p.m. for social hour, with the gala beginning at 7:30 p.m.
Part of the evening is also dedicated to an auction, and Fireside Band will provide live entertainment after the program. Catering is by Five Loves Two Fish and there will be a cash bar.
Tickets are available at the CCISD website below, CCISD administration at 703 W. Ave. D), by calling 254-547-1227 ext. 11005, or from any Copperas Cove Education Foundation board member. The foundation’s web page is http://www.ccisd.com/domain/9.
Keynote speaker this year is Copperas Cove High School class of 1998 alum Christina Bache Fidan, PhD, an international speaker and humanitarian.
Bache Fidan received her PhD from the Department of Politics and International Studies at the University of Warwick in the UK, with her dissertation focusing on the impact of the private sector on human security and peace in fragile and conflict-affected states.
Her case study delved into the impact of the Turkish private sector on economic security and peace in the Kurdistan region of Iraq.
Bach Fidan earned her bachelor’s degree in International Relations as well as her master of arts in International Peace and Conflict Resolution from American University in Washington, D.C.
She is the co-chair of the International Crisis Group’s Ambassador Council and is a member of the United Nations Business for Peace/Principles for Responsible Management Education working group. She is also a co-founder of the group, Women in Foreign Policy – Turkey. She has traveled extensively and worked abroad in Latin America, Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, and Turkey.