(Seguin) — Organizers of last week’s Mardi Gras celebration are calling it a game-changing night for the Seguin Education Foundation.
The SEF board not only put on a big Mardi Gras-style party Thursday night at the Seguin Coliseum, offering raffles and auctions during the popular event — the biggest prize of the night didn’t go to one of the attendees. Instead, it went to the foundation itself.
The SEF was the recipient of a $1.4 million endowment fund, courtesy of the nonprofit board of directors from the Irma Lewis Seguin Outdoor Learning Center.
Center board member Robert Merservey made the announcement to the crowd at the end of the night.
“Tonight, we are honored and proud to announce the Irma Lewis Seguin Outdoor Learning Center is establishing an endowment through a donation to the Seguin Education Foundation of $1.4 million,” said Merservey.
The outdoor learning center was purchased by Seguin ISD a few years ago. Merservey says they are donating the remaining proceeds to the education foundation as a way to keep outdoor education programs alive at the outdoor learning center.
“The (SOLC and) SEF boards are passionate about outdoor education, about environmental learning, (and) about all of those wonderful things. Pete Silvius, (Seguin ISD’s director of whole child initiatives) could talk to you for an hour and a half about all the benefits of the students being outside. And we really look at this as a perfect opportunity to keep that alive,” said Merservey.
The center carries the name of Irma Lewis, a longtime outdoor educator in Seguin ISD who also served on the school board for years. Lewis died in 2013, but her vision for the creation of the outdoor education center lives on in this community.
The endowed fund will help the nonprofit education foundation continue to support outdoor education programs at the center, located on U.S. Highway 90 near Geronimo Creek. The endowment is a win for the Seguin Education Foundation, but more importantly, it’s seen as a game-changer for Seguin ISD and other area students who utilize the facilities and programs offered at the center.