Aimee Prince checks all the boxes.
“She has had a long successful career in Conway, knows development well, and her husband is an educator for the Conway Public Schools,” said Drew Spurgers, president of the board of directors for the Conway Public Schools Foundation. “She checks all the boxes for a good candidate.
“She knows nonprofits well, she has been heavily involved in our community, and she has ties to our school system.”
Prince was officially hired as the inaugural executive director of the foundation on Jan. 30.
“Basically, we realized in the past year or two that we have made a lot of progress with a volunteer board, but to fully accomplish our goals, [we needed] to have someone whose sole focus was to advance our mission,” Spurgers said.
CPSF, which was established in 2007 by the Conway Board of Education, offers grants to teachers in the Conway School District to help provide “whatever creative thing they would like to do in the classroom that can’t be funded by the district,” Spurgers said. Last year, CPSF granted more than $11,000 to nine recipients. He said the foundation is increasing the grant annually based on the growth of the endowment.
“They’ve grown now to the point where they wanted to take it to the next step,” Prince said. “Part of their five-year plan was to hire an executive director.”
“Our mission is to help teachers help students and to do that outside of the impact grants,” Spurgers said. “We are talking about starting a crisis relief fund. That way, if a student’s house catches fire or something like that, the foundation is able to quickly give them some money and prepare them to come back to school — anything we can do to make a difference and make it easier for students to learn.
“There is also the potential of scholarships, but that is not our focus. … There is really a long list of possibilities, and we are looking at what we are able to do and what we are wanting to pursue next.”
Prince was born and raised in Conway, and her husband, Jeff, teaches at Conway Junior High School. Their oldest, Clay, graduated from Conway High School, and their daughter, Karson, is at the elementary school.
“I believe [the foundation] is a good fit for me,” Prince said. “I want to help raise awareness and provide the help for teachers and students to achieve their goals.”
She said CPSF has done so much work already, but with her on board as executive director, the foundation wants to continue to build onto it, including adding an alumni association and helping to bring “more awareness to Conway Public Schools and the work the teachers are doing.”
“We really want to partner with the teachers and to be able to learn from them and help enrich the learning environment,” she said. “Our mission is to enable lifelong learning and help expand the foundation’s work.
“The board is completely volunteer, and it is amazing the tremendous work they have done without having someone in this position.”
Prince serves on the Conway Regional Health Foundation Board of Directors, the Conway Regional Women’s Council and the city of Conway’s Homeless Task Force and is a member of the Conway Noon Rotary. She said that while she has never worked in education herself, she does have several family members who are teachers. She previously served as director of development and interim executive director for the United Way of Central Arkansas.
“I do get to hear the concerns and the needs of teachers,” she said. “Many of them are spending their own money, so we want to partner with them and keep the funds coming so they won’t have to provide out of their own pockets.”
The grant cycle is open for two to three months, Spurgers said, and is open to any educators in Conway. He said some have used the grants to pay for supplies in the classroom, while others have used the money to help bring in other educators.
“One music educator brought a Native American gentlemen to teach the students about drum circles,” Spurgers said. “Another used [the grant] to purchase used bicycles to help students learn about kinetic energy.”
“The foundation is purchasing things the teacher might not get on their own to help expand the classroom learning time,” Prince said. “All teachers are encouraged to apply for the grants.”
The grants are mostly funded by private donations, but Prince said the foundation will host a fundraiser March 3, when the foundation will present the Hall of Honor 2020 Gala in the Conway High School Cafeteria, beginning at 7 p.m. Tickets are $50 and are available for purchase at cpsfoundation.com/gala.
This year’s inductees include distinguished alumnus Robbie Wills, distinguished educator Betty Ford and friend of the district Charlie Nabholz. Food will be prepared by Two Sisters Catering.
“The first and foremost challenge of my new position is making people aware of who the foundation is and what they are doing, and that it is separate from the district — the foundation is its own program,” Prince said.
“I’m trying to make people aware of it and the work that it is doing,” she said.
“It is an efficient board that does fun work and makes a difference,” Spurgers said. “It is fun and rewarding, and it is really fun to see it make a difference. … It is always a great feeling to help teachers in the classroom.”
For more information, visit cpsfoundation.com.
Staff writer Sam Pierce can be reached at (501) 244-4314 or spierce@arkansasonline.com.