Rivercrest Education Foundation, Inc. was formed in 2000 by a group of interested individuals in the Bogata and Talco communities. Incorporated in early 2002, the Foundation today is a non-profit organization made up of 33 trustees and officers from the local area whose goal is to help provide scholarships to Rivercrest seniors seeking higher education through college or vocational school.

To date, over $200,000 in scholarships has been offered to graduating seniors at Rivercrest High School.  In 2004-2005, the Foundation first made scholarship money available to seniors and juniors still in high school who took one of the following dual credit college classes offered through Paris Junior College:  English, Biology, A&P, Algebra, and/or trigonometry. Each semester, funds are set aside for qualified applicants.

The REF has hosted 10 annual scholarship banquets, the premier fund-raising event each year.  Additional scholarship money is obtained through ticket sales, raffles, and silent auction items.  Donations are welcomed in memory or in honor of loved ones.  Endowments in the amount of $5,000 are also accepted with the interest generated from that given as a scholarship in the loved one’s name.  Currently three endowed scholarships are given through the REF:  the Cassie Kay McCuller Memorial Scholarship, the Robert and Susan Rhoads and Nancy Rhoads Ewald Endowed Scholarship and the Travis and Mable Hale Memorial Scholarship.

The REF is also host to an annual  benefit golf tournament, held each October at the Clarksville Country Club to help raise funds for our organization.

In 2005, the Foundation began recognizing former Rivercrest teachers by inducting them into a Hall of Fame.  Educators honored in the past include the following:  Nadine Caldwell, Billie Garrison, Travis Hale, Jewell Haynes, Dianne Ross, Barbara Russell, Frank and Anita Stubblefield, Ann Roberts, Larry Tucker, Bonnie Ruth Huddleston, and Billie Pirtle,Bonnye Gage and Kenneth Pirtle.  This year’s honorees are Jane Holmes and Buford Hervey.

Thank you for taking an interest in the Rivercrest Education Foundation.  Because of help from individuals like you, the generosity of the area businesses, community support, and the hard work of the trustees, the young people of our school are receiving an incentive to succeed in today’s world.  We hope that you will be a part each year by donating to this worthwhile organization.

Mission statement:  “The mission of the Rivercrest Education Foundation, Inc., is to provide financial assistance in the form of scholarships to graduating seniors and to be a link to our alumni, a bridge to our communities, and an advocate of the values, traditions, and heritage of Rivercrest Independent School District.”