Our Commitment to Education
Established in 2002, the non-profit Yorkshire Foundation is a natural outgrowth of the principles espoused by Yorkshire Academy — a private school in West Houston, Texas, long noted as a progressive leader in early childhood education.
Since 1984, Yorkshire Academy has established a distinguished record in combining outstanding academics with an emphasis on teaching—and reaching—the “whole child.” The school has as its primary objective the firm commitment to fostering each young person’s happiness, confidence and academic success.
Yorkshire Academy’s founders, Joe and Shirley Swinbank, maintain a guiding vision that a love of learning is a gift which lasts a lifetime. The Yorkshire Foundation institutionalizes the progression of this ideal from childhood through adulthood.
The Foundation draws on Yorkshire’s expertise in fostering a child’s intellect, creativity and social development and then extends this approach to educational enrichment programs for children and adults at the school and in the community.
Charity Begins With Others
Character development and civic responsibility are key elements of Yorkshire Academy’s educational philosophy. The Yorkshire Foundation fully espouses these principles. Just a few examples of our community outreach activities include the following:
- The Foundation actively participates in community food and clothing drives, toy drives, and other relief efforts.
- Local experts in family and child development are invited to speak several times a year at parent education seminars which are always open to the public.
- Computer awareness classes taught by Yorkshire Academy faculty are offered free of charge to local senior citizens through area church groups.
A special program is the Maynard Eugene Treichel (MET) Scholarship Program. The MET scholarship is offered to partially offset the cost of tuition for one economically challenged child attending the elementary grades at Yorkshire Academy. Our long-term goal is to add one additional scholarship student each year, ultimately providing a full scholarship for each student in the program.
Raising Funds to Raise Expectations
All fundraising activities on behalf of Yorkshire Academy are conducted through the Yorkshire Foundation. All funds raised are used to promote educational excellence at the school and in the community, and are distributed directly to the applicable enrichment program.
The Yorkshire Foundation relies heavily on contributions from its primary donor group, Yorkshire Academy families, for the bulk of its resources. Parent volunteers are the Foundation “staffers” and work long hours to ensure the success of all its initiatives.
We conduct varied fundraising events throughout the year and are always ready to seize any initiative to maximize our opportunities. Several programs that remain keystones of our approach include an annual fund giving campaign; a “Wishing Well” program for classroom enrichment tools; and galas, spring festivals, and/or markets which are open to the community.
A key element of our five-year Strategic Business Plan for the Foundation is to increase corporate donations. To this end, the Foundation is maximizing its participation in corporate donor programs such as General Mills’ Box tops for Education and My Coke Rewards and on-line shop-and-earn program through Schoolpop. The Foundation is also set up to receive corporate matching funds provided by the employers of individual donors.
Fulfilling the Vision
It has been said before that you make a living by what you get, but you make a life by what you give. Your generous contribution to the Yorkshire Foundation can help us make lives better through education for people of any age or ability. Thank you for your support.