Texas Catholic Letters
August 6, 2008
Ms. Giselle Antoni
President/CEO
Big Thought
Dallas, Texas
Dear Giselle,
We are very appreciative of the many thanks we have received from Big Thought for including your organization among the grant recipients of The Catholic Foundation, but it is you who deserve the thanks from us and our Catholic grade schools who have benefitted from the grant. The feedback we have gotten about the arts learning experiences presented at each of the participating schools has been absolutely wonderful.
Today it is not unusual to read of the budgetary challenges facing the educational community, and the Catholic schools in our Diocese are no exception. Unfortunately, many times it is the art programs that suffer from budget reductions. That is why the programs Big Thought delivers are so important. They supplement the liberal arts education of each student in such a positive way. I wish I could have attended some of the programs at Immaculate Conception, St. Cecelia, St. Augustine and Santa Clara where the children learned how to write a school song, participated in “Speaking is FUNdamental”, traveled “The Reader-Writer Patrol” and heard and saw “The Songs and Dances of Spain.” These were all great programs led by professional members of our arts and educational community, who also delivered over 30 different learning experiences in these schools as a result of the grant.
Congratulations to all at Big Thought who are important to the education of our children. We are pleased to have the opportunity to help facilitate the programs through grant funding -- funding that would not be available without the generosity of our many benefactors.
Sincerely,
Edwin M. Schaffler
President and Chief Executive Officer