SCHOLARSHIP DONATIONS: Galena Park Council of PTA’s host annual banquet

Award Recipients’ L – R Brian Allen, Bryan Clements, Wilfred J. Broussard, Juan Carlos Villegas (Photo by Allan Jamail)
Award Recipients’ L – R Brian Allen, Bryan Clements, Wilfred J. Broussard, Juan Carlos Villegas (Photo by Allan Jamail)

Thursday, February 16, 2017 — The Galena Park Community Council of PTA’s Founder’s Day Banquet held in the Joyce Zotz Education Center was most exciting with hundreds of PTA and school faculty members’ coming together as a unified team and goal of helping students obtain a higher education.

Excitement and love filled the air; strong competition was evident between the schools, each trying to donate the most scholarship funds. Over $14,000 was donated with more coming in later from other sources.

GPISD’s twenty-four PTA chapter’s each had a school representative come to the front podium to announce their contributions; each announcement brought loud cheers and applause from the unselfish volunteers in attendance. Jacinto City Elementary made the highest elementary school donation and Galena Park High School was highest and overall highest too.

Each year, the Council of PTAs honors several individuals with special recognition. At this year’s banquet, four individuals were thanked for their many years of service to the students and staff of the district.

Receiving the Texas PTA Honorary Life Membership Award is one of the highest forms of recognition to affirm how much the recipients are truly appreciated for their dedication to our children and the community. Lifetime Award recipients were Board of Trustees President, Wilfred J. Broussard, Jr.; longtime educator, Brian Allen; and longtime dedicated staff member, Juan Carlos Villegas.

The Texas PTA Extended Service Award is a prestigious honor that is bestowed upon a deserving individual who has supported the Galena Park Council of PTAs mission of making every child’s potential a reality for many years. This year’s honoree was Executive Director for Security and Technology/Chief of Police Bryan Clements.