SUPERINTENDENT HONORED TO RECEIVE BOERNE CHAMBER’S 2018 MIKE COYLE INNOVATOR AWARD

On Saturday, January 26th, Boerne ISD Superintendent, Dr. Thomas Price, was honored to receive the Greater Boerne Chamber of Commerce’s, 2018 Mike Coyle Innovator Award.

The Mike Coyle Innovator Award was established in 2013 in honor of a beloved member of the Boerne community to recognize those who demonstrate innovation in their work and in their commitment to service in the community.

Innovators are known for bringing new ideas, processes and technology into their fields without fear of the challenges innovation may bring. Innovators are trailblazers; viewing successes and challenges as equal opportunities for growth.

Upon receiving the award, Dr. Price stated “I am so surprised to receive this award, but also, so honored. It is important to me that Boerne students understand the value in never giving up, not only when things are hard, but also when things are going well, or they have met the standard. There is always more to learn and always more to strive for.”

Since coming to Boerne ISD in 2017, Dr. Price has worked diligently to unite the community around a focus on innovation and planning for the District. Under the leadership of Dr. Price, Boerne ISD’s Strategic Planning Committees have been actively working towards this vision for innovation; planning not only for current student opportunities but also planning ahead for our future Boerne ISD students and families.

Photos are courtesy of Beth Coyle Photography.

Reclaim 2020 Monthly Pledge Drive

R ECLAI M I N G 2 0 2 0 F O R G O O D T O H E L P W O M E N W O RKI N G T O R ECLAI M T H E I R L I V E S .

Each morning, 2020 has delivered a new day and a new set of challenges. These challenges have known no boundaries and have affected every walk of life. We have felt these challenges personally and in our organization, particularly in the area of our fundraising.

Although 2020 has put a hold on our events, our work supporting the livelihood of women in the process of reclaiming their lives following abuse has not stopped. Despite our challenges, we have witnessed beautiful growth, new achievements, and sweet healing take place in the lives of our clients. We couldn’t be more encouraged!

In an effort to shift our focus to the positive work that has continued at Transformation

House, we invite you to join us in reclaiming 2020 for good, with a minimum monthly pledge of $20.20. It is our hope that this monthly gift could serve as a reminder to you that there is good, positive work taking place this year amid the challenges.

These monthly commitments are important and allow us to maintain steady revenue that assists in client support and planning for the year. Your monthly contribution adds up to make a significant impact in the lives of the survivors we serve.

VISIT WWW.TRANSFORMATION-HOUSE.ORG TO GIVE.

Dear Boerne ISD Volunteers,

We need your help this month with our Love Delivered project! This is a great opportunity for families to serve together and it is coming up on Monday, February 7 from 4-6 pm. Please read below for more details.

A big THANK YOU to all of our Boerne Outdoor Academy (BOA) Volunteers. It takes a large number of volunteers to provide our students with this one-of-a-kind experience and we are so grateful for your support!

Help us get Love Delivered!

You may have seen our Love Delivered Campaign around the District - We have been collecting Valentine's Cards and Fuzzy Socks/Blankets to gift to local foster youth and local nursing home residents. The collection is almost complete and now WE NEED YOU and your families to help us sort the donations and prepare the Love to be Delivered!

Join us Monday, February 7 from 3:30- 6:30 pm as we PICK UP donations from Boerne ISD Schools, SORT donations at Boerne ISD Central Office, and DROP OFF the donations to our Delivery volunteers at St. Peter's

Sign up here: (LINK)

Volunteer Role Details:

PICK-UP VOLUNTEERS - 2:00pm- 4:00 pm

Adults or high school students with their own transportation are needed to pick up the donated cards, socks and blankets from each of the Boerne ISD Campus and transport them to the Boerne ISD Central Office Training Center.

Please note that donations may be large and require large or multiple vehicles to transport. Pick-up may be coordinated with the Campus front office for any time between 2 and 4 pm - being mindful of high traffic, school pick-up times.

Upon your arrival to Central Office, Contact Amanda Payne to coordinate entry and unloading (Contact information below).

SORTING VOLUNTEERS - 4:00-6:00 pm

Sorting will take place at the Boerne ISD Central Office in C-134 and C-135 and is available to students and families of all ages. Children under 14 should be accompanied by an adult.

All donations will be sorted and placed into boxes for the designated facility. Each facility will receive a box of cards, a box of socks, and a box of blankets. Once the boxes are complete, they will need to be loaded into the vehicles of our DROP-OFF VOLUNTEERS.

DROF-OFF VOLUNTEERS - 5:00pm- 7:00pm

Once the boxes are complete and ready, we need volunteers to drive the boxes to St. Peter's Upon the Rock Church (Located at 416W Highland Dr. - Across from the Baptist church) and unload them in St. Anthony Hall there. Volunteers from St. Peter's will deliver the items to each facility prior to Valentine's day.

Once boxes are packed, drivers may leave with their delivery to St. Peter's Upon the Rock Church.

QUESTIONS?

Contact Amanda Payne by phone: 830-357-2055 or Email at amanda.payne@boerneisd.net.

Boerne ISD is looking for caring, positive adults to invest in the life of a child through one on one mentoring. Ideal mentors are local young professionals, stay-at-home parents, or retired community members.

Mentors are trained, matched with a student, and commit to meet weekly with their student over lunch at their school. They provide a caring adult relationship to help students navigate whatever challenges they may be faced with, such as: loss, insecurity, problem-solving, or optimistic thinking.

For more information or to sign up visit (WEBSITE)

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October 2022

We lost our sweet Lovey girl last week. She was moved to live with a relative.

While we entered this entire foster care life with a focus on reunification, dedicated to supporting family, zero intention to adopt, I was wildly underprepared for how awful the reality is of putting your baby…

…the baby you brought home from the hospital,

the baby you’ve sat up with overnight,

the baby you’ve nursed through sickness,

the baby that you know like the back of your hand- her cries, coos, happy squirms and the ones that mean she’s about to lose it..

the baby that’s consumed every minute of your day for the last 4 months…

…the reality of placing that baby, in a stranger’s car, kissing her head goodbye and closing the door on her wide, unsure eyes for the last time. . .That grief, that overwhelming weight in my chest, that loss in that moment was so much worse than I ever imagined.

Grief so intense yet, I can’t help thinking of her bio mother - and wondering how many of these feelings she’s felt long before me and it makes me feel like I don’t even have a right to this grief… but I do.

This grief tells me we served our purpose well. It means we loved Lovey with everything we had, we gave her the very best of ourselves and that’s what she deserved. For the first 4 months of her life outside the NICU, she had a foster mom and dad who loved her like crazy, a bunch of fun aunts to spoil her and 4 crazy dogs that shared their humans with her.

We witnessed our Lovey overcome so much and we know she’ll be able to face whatever comes next.

Through the grief, we are holding out hope for her next chapter, the one where she grows up knowing her relatives, the one where she gets to ask questions about her parents and have someone help fill in the blanks with a first hand account. We are holding on to hope that her family will allow us to see her again sometime and She will forever be part of our prayers- asking God to bless her and keep her, to shine his face down on her.

January 2023

Foster care really is the wildest thing.

You answer the phone or open your email to find the age and sex of a child in need.

The age and sex. That’s it.

If you’re lucky, there may be a brief statement, an incomplete sentence, about why the child is in need.

Then, You get a few minutes to make a decision.

A decision that could mean a few weeks, a year or two or it could mean forever.

Next thing you know you’re looking into the face of a tiny stranger.. I say a stranger, because that’s how foreign she feels- this tiny human that can’t speak and you know nothing about- from the basics, like when was her last bottle? Or How much does she eat? To the big things like - is her birthdate correct? What’s her middle name? Where was she born?

She’s so strange and foreign to you that if we’re honest, after the first few sleepless nights you’re also wondering “when is this little stranger leaving?” 😆

But then. The wildest thing happens.

You take it one day at a time and you start to know this little stranger. You start to learn her rhythms, and she learns yours, you start to see her relax and heal. You start to see her grow, flourish even.

She starts to light up when she sees your face appear in the darkness over her crib at night. She starts to smile and laugh when you stop between chores to interact and play.

And before you know it, this little stranger starts to feel nothing like a stranger. She starts to feel like part of your life and your home.

She starts to feel like a part of you.

You feel with her, you cry with her, you dream for her. You start to forget what life was like before you knew her.

And then your phone rings.

It’s the caseworker.

She informs you she will be picking up your precious baby from daycare for a mid-day visit with her mom while you’re at work.

And just like that you’re reminded: she’s not yours.

You are merely a servant in this story- providing a service to her and her family.

It’s the wildest thing.

You are not the one calling the shots for her.

It’s the caseworker. It’s the judge. It’s the Ad litem. It’s the system.

Not you.

But then you remember It’s actually none of them either.

It’s Jesus.

He’s the one that brought her into our home 2 months ago. He’s the one weaving her story together. He’s the one who moved our first beloved baby away and created a space for this one.

He’s the one who picked us to love her, support her, and pray for her through this season.

He’s the one calling the shots and I’m so, so grateful.

How good it is to know him. To know that he is Good. He is Love. And He is with her. Everywhere we can’t be.

Foster care really is the wildest thing.

But so is Jesus.