Anonymous
Source: Royal Pride Foundation
The Royal Pride Foundation (RPF) is excited to announce the Santa Barbara Unified School District (SBUSD) School Board’s approval of our $4.4 million dollar fundraising plan.
The SBUSD School Board unanimously approved at their January 25 meeting the request to commence fundraising with the goal of securing $4.4 million in matching funds to build a brand new Health Careers Academy (HCA) building and upgrade the current Wellness Center to expand the school-based mental health services. HCA was first established at San Marcos High School twenty years ago with strong support from the Honorable Lois Capps, former congresswoman, who before running for office was a longtime school nurse.
“We are thrilled to have the School Board’s approval to begin this important work,” said Dr. Kip Glazer, Principal of San Marcos High School (SMHS). Glazer shared that she wanted to upgrade the existing Wellness Center to augment the school-based mental health services since the first day she arrived at San Marcos as the Principal. In addition, she wanted to expand the HCA program so that more students would be able to access diverse careers in the healthcare field.
“The RPF Board not only said yes to supporting the capital campaign but key board members also provided additional expertise. As an educator who has not led a big capital fundraising campaign like this before, their encouragement and practical support have been invaluable to creating the fundraising plan that was approved by the SBUSD Board,” said Glazer.
Garret Headley, President of the RPF, is grateful and encouraged by the approval from the SBUSD Board. “We believe that this project fits extremely well with RPF’s mission to raise funds in support of all students at San Marcos. The creation of new and improved facilities for the Health Careers Academy and Wellness Center represents a critical positive step in addressing the mental health needs of our students, and we are proud to support Dr. Glazer’s vision.”
Glazer is optimistic that the project will attract strong philanthropic support. “I was passionate about the project even before the pandemic and now I feel it is more important than ever given the dramatically increased mental health needs of our students,” emphasized Glazer, “I am confident that our generous community who care deeply about our students’ mental health and the need for healthcare professionals will help us.”
The RPF has already secured $25,000 from the Mosher Foundation to hire a consultant to manage the capital campaign. “We are happy to support this project,” Ed Birch, a long-time Board member of the Mosher Foundation shared. “This project focuses on improving the wellness and mental health of our young people. It is exciting to hear about Principal Glazer’s vision to address the increased mental health needs among young people as well as to expand the educational opportunities that will lead to young people pursuing careers in the healthcare field.”
With this initial approval, the work has just begun. Next, Glazer plans to form a Principal’s Capital Campaign Advisory Committee and hire a campaign consultant. Once the campaign consultant is hired, Glazer will need to put together another plan for the SBUSD Board’s approval. “The volunteer capital campaign planning committee initially identified fourteen different naming opportunities, and we will still need to bring that plan to the School Board for their approval,” Glazer stated.
She hopes to unveil additional details and exciting progress at the Royal Pride Foundation Gala, scheduled for Friday, April 29th, 2022 at 6:00 p.m. at the Santa Barbara Historical Museum. Glazer would like to encourage the community to support the Gala, which aims to raise $250,000 in support of the Royal Pride Foundation and other priority campus projects funded by RPF. Glazer said. “I especially want to acknowledge our two Gala Chairs, Ms. Linda Dozer and Ms. Juneal Chenoweth. Without devoted volunteers like them, there will be no RPF, and we won’t be able to continue the fundraising effort. I would love to encourage anyone who is able to sponsor a table, buy a ticket, or donate items to the Gala to do so.”
Glazer estimates that fundraising for the capital campaign will take approximately two years to complete, and underscored that construction cannot begin until all the funds are raised and available to the District. The Division of State of Architect will also need to approve the plan. Glazer believes that the timeline can be shortened if the fundraising goal is met sooner. “The quicker we raise the funds, the sooner we can submit the paperwork to the state, which takes time for review,” said Glazer.
For more information on how you can support the Royal Pride Foundation Gala, please contact Tina Ballue, Executive Director of RPF at tballue@royalpridefoundation.org.
For more information on how you can support the HCA and Wellness Capital Project, please contact Kip Glazer at kglazer@sbunified.org.
