On Saturday, March 8th, over 30 volunteers, including families, UTSA volunteers and school staff came together to install a soil garden at Cameron Elementary. Volunteers worked to lay and plant six garden beds, including installing a drip irrigation system, which will help maintain plants grown at the campus. Cameron students returned from spring break ready to complete the planting and kick off their garden-based education.

A huge shout-out to the volunteers from UTSA’s Women of Honor and UTSA Brainwave Society, and our partners from Gardopia Gardens for leading the workday. The raised beds were built and donated by Burbank High School students and funding was provided to the SAISD Foundation by an Eco-Grant from Accenture.

Cameron is now part of the 2024-25 soil garden cohort throughout the SAISD. Over 40 campuses have soil gardens and garden-based education curriculum as part of science classes and/or school garden clubs thanks to our partners at Gardopia, SAISD PE and Science Departments and Methodist Healthcare Ministries. The gardens help bring students’ studies to life and create hands-on engagement. This helps students stay motivated about the lessons they are learning in their classes.

“These gardens allow students to explore their environments,” said Mary Flannigan, Finance and Programs Manager at the SAISD Foundation. “We are proud to bring more learning opportunities like this to life for our SAISD students.” 

If you or someone you know is interested in assisting with keeping up a school garden on a regular basis, sign up to be a garden steward today!

The SAISD Foundation is proud to expand our college tour program, ensuring more students gain firsthand exposure to higher education opportunities. For the 2024-2025 school year, we’ve broadened our traditional college tours—previously for high school juniors and seniors—to include freshmen, sophomores, and even middle school students. By funding transportation costs for schools organizing their own tours, we’re making it possible for younger learners to step onto college campuses, experience the atmosphere, and start envisioning their future in higher education at an earlier age.

Ms. Kniker, a teacher at Harris Middle School, shares the impact, "Middle school students, especially 8th graders, benefit greatly from visiting college and university campuses—it makes these institutions real for them. I tell my students, ‘If you can’t see it, you can’t be it!’ After a visit, they say, ‘Now I can really see myself in college. It doesn’t seem scary anymore!’"

By expanding access to college tours, we’re helping students turn dreams into plans. Together, we’re building a future where every student can see themselves in higher education.

The San Antonio Book Festival is a day-long celebration on Saturday, April 12, 2025, that brings together readers and writers with a variety of activities, including author panels, book signings, children’s activities, food trucks and more - for FREE! Our Book Buddies Bus has been invited to participate, and we need your help! Volunteers play a key role in making our presence at the festival a success by setting up, greeting visitors, handing out materials, and helping to tear down at the end of the day. Volunteers are asked to sign up for 1.5-hour increments, with plenty of time to enjoy the festival before or after your shift. If you’re interested in making a difference at this year’s SA Book Festival, sign up today to volunteer with the Book Buddies Bus! This is a wonderful way to support literacy, connect with the community, and enjoy a fantastic event celebrating books and learning. In addition to having our Book Buddies Bus support the event, we also proudly partner with the SA Book Festival to ensure schools have field trip transportation for the event.

On Saturday, March 22, 2025, 330 members of our community gathered to support scholarships for students from Sam Houston High School’s Class of 2025. This event is a testament to the power of alumni, the power of family and community, and the power of legacies. This is one of the longest-standing SAISD alumni-related fundraising events and in total, Friends of Sam Houston has awarded over $300,000 in scholarships for students to attend college. That is no small task and it is made possible by a small but mighty team led by Willie Mae Taylor and powered by hundreds of individuals and key community and business partners each year. The SAISD Foundation is proud to serve as the fiscal agent of the event and the scholarships which allows the committee to focus their energy on the event, student scholarship selection and raising these important funds. 

One of the named scholarships awarded at this annual event honors the legacy of longtime coach and former SAISD Athletic Hall of Fame honoree Raymond A. Johnson (R.A.). Annually three scholarships are awarded to student athletes at Sam Houston by members of R.A.’s family. One of this year’s talented students is pictured. You can watch R.A.'s Hall of Fame video below.

The SAISD Foundation is always proud to be a part of creating lasting legacies! In fact, we have dedicated resources to do just that. Legacies can be created to support the programs in education that matter most to you and can be created with today’s funds or established with tomorrow’s assets. What will your legacy be? We would love to help you design it and make it a reality. 

We know how important mariachi education is in San Antonio ISD and the powerful legacy it carries. Over the past few years, we have been working with SAISD Fine Arts to expand and enhance these programs. This school year, more than 2,300 students are enrolled in K-12 mariachi programs both during and after school. With a vision to reclaim San Antonio and SAISD as the epicenter of youth mariachi education, we are working to support these programs in reaching new heights. One of the areas needed to do that is increasing students’ opportunities to see world-class performers and compete across the state.

The Fox Tech/ALA/CAST Tech Mariachi Program, proudly led by Mr. Zamarripa and Ms. Covarrubias, brings the rich tradition of Mariachi music to students from 6th to 12th grade. This spring, the Mariachi group was looking to raise funds to compete in Brownsville, Texas for the 2nd Annual Texas Southmost College Mariachi Festival. Following KSAT’s coverage, our local community rallied and reached their $15,000 goal in online gifts through our portal to make it happen! The SAISD Foundation is able to provide dedicated online pages where people can give to the programs they are most passionate about in education. 

David Zamarripa shared, “Thanks to the SAISD Foundation, our Mariachi program has been inspired to expand beyond San Antonio, allowing us to compete at a higher level and attend more clinics to refine our musical skills. It's truly amazing to see and feel the community working together for a wonderful cause. I’ve never felt this experience before. It’s incredible.” See more of their story featured on KENS5.

San Antonio native Matthew Aguilera began his educational journey at Sarah King Elementary and ended up in the Media and Film Institute at Brackenridge High School. While in high school, a schedule mix-up landed him in a choir class instead of football. After trying to get out of choir, he ultimately decided to stay, a decision that turned into four years of choir participation. “I never planned to be in music,” said Matthew. His teacher, Joyce Brannon, was the main reason he stayed. “She was a force to be reckoned with. She had a great personality - always so energetic and fun. She pushed students to do better and offered words of affirmation. And, she was fair - she gave you the grade you deserved.” Matthew said that Ms. Brannon created an environment he enjoyed being around and was even going to become a music teacher. Following graduation from high school in 2014, Matthew entered Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, Louisiana after a recruiter came to his choir class and offered him a scholarship.

Fast forward a few years, Matthew is now back in San Antonio and along with his passion for piano, like that little mix-up in high school, ended up in a career in IT. We know that San Antonio can have that small-town feel and that’s true for Matthew. When asked how he came to the SAISD Foundation, it was through his co-worker, Sonya Cardenas who is the former principal at Carvajal Elementary. Matthew’s mom, a longtime employee of SAISD, is now working at Carvajal. Sonya knew of the work of the SAISD Foundation and has been a longtime monthly donor to the organization. We are proud to partner with him this year in offering the new “Ivory Keys Piano Scholarship” for an SAISD student from the class of 2025 to support the next generation interested in a career in music or music education. Matthew said that he never had a piano growing up and could only play at school. He has very fond memories of his time in school and this is his way of giving back to the district that helped shape him. Matthew’s example, as a donor just 11 years from his high school graduation, helps us all remember it is never too early to make an impact!

Join us to learn about FREE powerful field trip opportunities for your students at the Witte and discover the museum's newest exhibition, Fiesta Makes a Splash! The event features fun, family-friendly activities including entertainment by Mariachi Los Paisanos and Mi Mexico Ballet Folklorico, and a complimentary nacho bar! Sign up to join us! 

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