Last night seemed like Christmas in the Mockingbird Room of Highland Park Village. There was no decorated fir tree or elves, but there was lots of good cheer. It was all due to 2021 La Fiesta De Las Seis Banderas Co-Chairs Michaela Dyer and Kim Quinn, who presented a $348,000 check to La Fiesta’s 2021 beneficiaries.
Here’s a breakdown of the recipients, with the Highland Park Education Foundation receiving $225,000:
- Highland Park Arts for general programming – $35,000
- Highland Park LitFest for keynote speaker – $20,000
- Highland Park Student Council for “Race to End Racism” forum – $7,000
- HPHS Science and Tech Festival for general expenses for tech festival – $2,500
- HPHS Community Service Council for x2vol software maintenance and upgrades – $1,000
- HPHS Emergency Fund for student emergency fund – $2,500
- HPHS Counselor for mental health awareness; Teen Dating Violence; Project Respect – $3,000
- MIS/HPMS Raider Assistance for student emergency fund – $2,500
- The Center for mental health education for HPMS/MIS – $10,000
- YMCA of Metropolitan Dallas for HPHS Youth and Government program – $1,500
- Boys and Girls Club of Dallas for general programming – $2,500
- Connecting Point for general programming – $15,000
- Friends of HP Library for computer and software to expand virtual library – $1,500
- Friends of UP Library for books (6K), book covers (2K), storytime (2K) – $10,000
- CARE Dallas for Arrow/True Grit; Red Ribbon Week; DARE – $6,500
- Dallas Heritage Village for annual maintenance of Park Cities House – $2,500
- Highland Park Education Foundation – $80,000 (Allocated last Fall)
- M4P Leadership Society (25K)
- Executive Director Salary (25K)
- HPHS Challenge Success program (16K)
- Teacher Innovation Grants (10K)
- Teacher of the Year (4K)
- Highland Park Education Foundation additional funds raised: $145,000
- $2,500 Endowment Fund Software
- $12,500 Mad for Plaid
- $25,000 Pierce Planetarium
- $15,000 Math Materials to address learning disruptions
- $15,000 5th grade Music Lab expansion
- $50,000 Palmer Auditorium updates
- $ 24,000 to the HPEF Endowment (addresses long term needs)
- $ 1,000 to the Linda Raya Endowment
According to Michaela and Kim, “Our Highland Park schools are the heart of our community,
and we are proud to see our efforts making a significant impact on one of the most important causes to La
Fiesta- exemplary education.”
* Photo credit: Camille French of James French Photography