Who #WeARE:

Craven County Partners In Education provides grant funding and special programs to classrooms and schools within the Craven County Schools system. It is a 501(c)3 Non-Profit Corporation, Tax ID #56-1335975 and donations are tax-deductible to the fullest extent of the law. Financial information about this organization and a copy of its license are available from the State Solicitation Licensing Branch at 919-814-5400. The license is not an endorsement by the State.

Pay or donate online payment by following this link.

Click the donate button below to…

• Be a Partner Sponsor of any or all PIE Events
• Be a Part of Our Memorials and Honorariums
• Purchase Luncheon Tickets (Check back with us 4/3/23 for tickets!)
• Support PIE through the PIE Membership Drive
• Donate to the Fund Drive
• Donate to Stuff the Bus
• Partner with us for Pancakes for PIE
• Support our DARE Program
• Support our Beginning Teachers’ Store

Thank you to those who choose to fund the programs in our schools by donating to these programs.

• To learn how to be a PIE Partner for all of our events, or pay for your partnership online, follow this link.
• We encourage you to purchase a ticket to the luncheon from a PIE Ambassador (for a listing of PIE Ambassadors, follow this link).
• To pay for a ticket online, follow this link. Tickets will be available April 3, 2023.  Buy your ticket early, this will be a sell out event!
  

Craven County Partners In Education Announces Plans for the PIE Annual Luncheon

More than 500 educators, business leaders, community members, and elected officials will fill the Riverfront Convention Center of Craven County on Tuesday, June 13, 2023, for the PIE Annual Luncheon. This annual event supports and recognizes the educators in Craven County Schools. PIE awarded over $400,000 through various grants and programs during the 2022-23 school year.

Jason Jones, President of Partners In Education, announced the luncheon would host East Carolina University Head Football Coach, and winner of the Birmingham Bowl, Mike Houston as the keynote speaker. 

Doors open at 11:30 am for seating, with the event beginning at Noon. Tickets are $30 per person. The Chelsea is catering their famous Shrimp and Grits. John Bircher, an attorney with Davis Hartman Wright and West Craven High alum, will emcee. This event is open to the public. Tickets can be purchased from the PIE Ambassadors or at CravenPartners.com. We suggest you purchase your tickets early because this will surely be another sell-out event.  

Mr. Jones explains, “The luncheon is an excellent opportunity for our community to support our public school educators. The event finances PIE Grants, grants awarded to teachers for creative and innovative projects in Craven County Schools’ classrooms that fund materials for technology, science, music, and art projects, along with supplies and books for our students. I’m pleased to announce that PIE awarded over $36,000 in PIE Grants during the 2022-23 school year.”

Brandy Popp, Chair of the Fund-Raising Committee, said she is thrilled to welcome Coach Houston to Craven County. Ms. Popp explained, “This year’s theme is ‘Power of the Pirate Nation’. The Pirates capped the year by collecting their first bowl win since 2014 with a 53-29 victory over Coastal Carolina in the 2022 TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl, and we are pleased to have Coach Houston join us!”

Mike Houston, who owns a 102-49 overall record, a combined six conference championships, one FBS bowl victory, and a national title in 12 seasons as a collegiate head coach, is in his fifth year directing East Carolina University’s football program.

The Franklin, N.C. native, who has averaged nearly nine wins per campaign during his career, was formally introduced as the Pirates’ 22nd head coach on December 4, 2018, and immediately began a rebuilding process that has led to consecutive bowl eligibility seasons and one of the highest victory totals (22) for an ECU coach in their first four seasons and notable notched milestones on all three sides of the ball each year.

ECU put together a second-straight winning campaign in 2022, posting an 8-5 overall mark and finishing 4-4 in American Athletic Conference play. The Pirates won three of their first five games, dropping close contests to NC State (21- 20) and Navy (23-20 in double overtime). Sitting at 3-3 halfway through the season, ECU reeled off three consecutive wins – including a 47-45 four-overtime Homecoming victory over Memphis, its most complete effort of the season versus UCF (34-13), and a buzzer-beating road win at BYU (27-24) to earn bowl eligibility for the second-straight year. ECU outlasted Temple 49-46 in the regular season finale, reaching the seven-win mark for the second season in a row.  

Coach Houston is a 1994 graduate of Mars Hill University, where he played tight end for the Lions and earned a bachelor’s degree in biology. On November 16, 2020, Houston was inducted into the MHU Athletic Hall of Fame, following a similar honor at his alma mater Franklin High School in 2014.

Coach Houston, 51, is married to the former Amanda Owen, and they have two sons, Owen Michael and Reid Wilson.

PIE’s Partners for the Luncheon are Academy Sports + Outdoors, AlphaGraphics, Bella’s Cafe, Bojangles’, B/S/H/ Home Appliances, CarolinaEast Health System, Century 21 Zaytoun-Raines, Coastal Carolina Health Care, Coastal Grove Family Dentistry, Craven Community College, Craven County Wood Energy, Edward Jones Investments Financial Advisors: Michael Bass, Charles Benson III, Georgiana Bowman Bircher, Joanna Carr, Kevin Page, Taylor Paramore, Dan M. Roberts IV, Jordan Silver, and Michael Sprague, First Citizens Bank, International Paper, Martin Marietta, Mitchell Hardware, Moen, Morgan’s Tavern & Grill, Neuse River Region Association of REALTORS, Inc., New Bern Now, Optimum, PPG Paints, Paula’s Italian Restaurant, Piedmont Natural Gas, Pierce Group Benefits, Rotary Club of New Bern, Smithfield Foods, Sumrell Sugg – Attorneys at Law, Sun Journal, Toyota of New Bern, Trent Cadillac Buick GMC, Truist, Weyerhaeuser, White & Allen, Williams-Scarborough-Gray, WITN-TV, and WRNS 95.1 & WERO Bob 93.3. Supporting Partners: Chatsworth Products, John Bircher – Davis Hartman Wright, Duke Energy Carolinas, The Chelsea Restaurant, The Insurance Center, and Marine Federal Credit Union.

Craven County Partners In Education provides grant funding and special programs to classrooms and schools within the Craven County Schools system. It is a 501(c)3 Non-Profit Corporation, Tax ID #56-1335975, and donations are tax-deductible to the fullest extent of the law. Financial information about this organization and a copy of its license are available from the State Solicitation Licensing Branch at 919-814-5400. The license is not an endorsement by the State.

Since 1989, PIE has been changing the lives of students and families in our community by providing our educators with financial resources that enhance and reward innovative approaches to educational excellence. 

PIE Partnership/Sponsorship

Fill out the fillable pdf on the last page of the packet*

*follow this link to download the 2023 Partnership Packet,

and return it to Darlene Brown, and your partnership with Partners In Education is complete for the year!  

You can pay online – by following this link.

Dear PIE Partner:

PIE is pleased to offer a unique “Planned Partnership” program at the beginning of the calendar year to help you budget your community support funds. Follow this link for a brochure that describes the programs for which you will be partnering with us to benefit our Craven County Schools teachers and a Partnership Packet that details each of our programs and events as listed below:

2023 PIE Annual Luncheon:

Tuesday, June 13, 2023, Noon to 1:30 pm – Riverfront Convention Center of Craven County

($1,100, $800 or $500 Partnership)

Stuff the Bus:

Saturday, August 19, 2023 – 10:00 am – 2:00 pm – Staples in New Bern

($800 Partnership)

Follow this link for the 2023 Stuff the Bus Partnership Packet

Pancakes for PIE:

Saturday, December 2, 2023 – Morgan’s Tavern & Grill

($700 Partnership)

Follow this link for the 2023 Pancakes for PIE Partnership Packet

OR

Partner with us for All 2023 Events for just $1,900!

Be a part of all our events at the Major Partnership level (a value of $2,600) PLUS have your company’s logo featured on the PIE website and a link to your company’s website through December 2023!

Once you fill out the form, (follow this link for the 2023 PIE Partnership Packet), and return it with your check (or pay online by following this link), your Partners In Education partnership is complete for the year!

As you consider the value of a PIE Partnership, please bear in mind that we can customize your sponsorship to meet your needs. If you have any questions, please contact Darlene Brown at 514-6321 or Darlene.Brown@CravenK12.org.

Sincerely,

Jason Jones, President

Craven County Partners In Education

Grants Administered by PIE

Craven County Schools Educators: Grants for the 2022-23 School Year are now closed.  Check back with us August 2023 for the 2023-24 school year grants.

Teachers, as a member of PIE, you will receive one extra point on your total grant score for PIE Grants (plus win a ticket to the PIE Annual Luncheon!) and International Paper Math and Science Grants.

Be sure you are logged into your Rapid Identity email to access the shared drive. You must be a Craven County Schools employee to access the grants and to be eligible to apply for grants administered by PIE.

All grants are available on Google Docs at this link:

__________________________

We Flipped Out Over Pancakes for PIE!

 

Dear Pancakes for PIE Partner:

On behalf of the board of directors of Craven County Partners In Education, thank you for being a partner for our “Pancakes for PIE” event at Morgan’s Tavern & Grill on Saturday, December 3!

Through your generosity, we served over 850 (up from 610 last year) delicious pancake breakfasts (which included heaping portions of pancakes, sausage, bacon, fruit, orange juice, and coffee) for a total of $18,475 raised through ticket sales and sponsorships.

Candice and Adam Simmons at Morgan’s unselfishly donated all proceeds from the breakfast to PIE.  The Morgan’s staff gave up their Saturday morning, along with 23 PIE volunteers consisting of teachers, school staff members, and community supporters.

The money raised from this event will be used to fund PIE Grants for our teachers. We expect to fund $35,000 in PIE Grants, and this fundraiser is a significant part of that funding.  These grants fund innovative and creative projects in our classrooms that might not have happened had it not been for your generosity and Partnership!

If you are looking for Christmas gifts, I urge you to shop and support local by purchasing a gift card from Morgan’s as a way of saying thank you to Morgan’s for making Pancakes for PIE happen and for supporting so many good causes in our community!

 

Thank you to everyone who made this event a tremendous success!

Merry Christmas and the Happiest of Holidays to you and yours!

Darlene Brown on behalf of the

PIE Board of Directors

____________________________________________________

Follow this link for a school supply list

Thank you for supporting Stuff the Bus

with Title Partner BSH Home Appliances

 

Craven County Partners In Education provides grant funding and special programs to classrooms and schools within the Craven County Schools system. It is a 501(c)3 Non-Profit Corporation, Tax ID #56-1335975, and donations are tax-deductible to the fullest extent of the law. Financial information about this organization and a copy of its license are available from the State Solicitation Licensing Branch at 919-814-5400. The license is not an endorsement by the State.

 

Since 1989, PIE has been changing the lives of students and families in our community by providing our educators with financial resources that enhance and reward innovative approaches to educational excellence.

Support PIE through Membership

Follow this link to make your membership payment online