Foundation for SPS names Bass Pro top corporate partner

Last edited 2:43 p.m., Aug. 21, 2018

The Foundation for Springfield Public Schools recognized Bass Pro Shops as its 2018 Corporate Partner of the Year.

Bass Pro was honored Aug. 16 during the foundation’s annual donor appreciation luncheon, according to a news release.

Foundation officials cited Bass Pro’s Tournament of Champions, the primary fundraiser for the SPS athletic department to buy uniforms and equipment. The tournament, which has been held since 1985, net proceeds of $69,526 this year, said Pamela Anderson, director of development for the Foundation for SPS.

Bass Pro also developed The Wonders of the Ozarks Learning Facility with SPS and Wonders of Wildlife to teach fifth-grade students. It’s located in the John A. and Genny Morris Conservation Education Center adjacent to Bass Pro’s flagship store, according to the release.

“Thanks to the vision and partnership of Bass Pro Shops, that life-changing program is possible and engages 46 fifth-grade students each year,” Foundation for SPS Executive Director Natalie Murdock said in the release. “The retailer also provides support to Foundation for SPS back-to-school grants that focus on outdoor activities and conservation, such as last year’s ‘Pirates Gone Fishing’ back-to-school grant that allowed Pipkin Middle School students to experience fishing and other outdoor activities firsthand.”

During the donor luncheon, the Foundation for SPS also honored the Schneider Family Foundation as the 2018 Advocate for Education.

The Schneider Family Foundation has contributed funding toward the International Baccalaureate program at Central High School for two decades. When the program was being founded in 1996, the Schneider Family Foundation donated $10,000 to help it get underway, according to the release.

The Schneider Family Foundation this year will donate $1 million to support the program, which benefits high schools students across the SPS district.

“We are so grateful for the Schneider Family Foundation’s support and the impact they have made on thousands of students who take part in the IB program each year,” Murdock said in the release.