Aug. 24, 2023 – The ink dashes across the check as the auditorium erupts in cheers and applause. The signing ceremony is one of many that have taken place in CFISD recently. Luis Alvarado, manager from Cypress Creek High School’s local Office Depot, finalized their adoption of Creek, donating more than $2,000 to the campus.

But behind the fanfare is the true focus of this movement. According to the 2021 U.S. Census, the poverty ratio for school-age children in CFISD’s attendance zone is 15.4. With the Adopt-a-School program, which pairs schools with community organizations and business partners, many of those students can start their school year with new supplies.

The partnership between Office Depot and Cypress Creek comes as the school starts the year with new students and new faculty. Martin Drayton, Cypress Creek’s new principal, highlights the connections between local schools and their broader business contacts.

“We’re part of the community,” Drayton said. “It takes a village to raise a child, and we are part of that village.”

This partnership would not have been possible without Cypress Creek’s diagnostician secretary, Roanna Smith. Smith, who also works part-time at Office Depot, advocated for the school to be adopted even before Office Depot began partnering with high schools.

“They normally don’t do it for high schools,” Smith said. “It shows that the community really [does] care.”

For store manager Luis Alvarado, the partnership is personal. According to Alvarado, he lives about five minutes away from Cypress Creek and feels the need to give back to the community.

“I always tell everybody to make sure they have options and then [they] choose [their] own path. And that’s how education has always sort of guided me through this crazy world,” Alvarado said.

According to CFISD’s Director of Community Engagement Dawn Tryon, the relationship between Creek and Office Depot brings much more than just funds.

“The campus feels valuable, appreciated, seen,” Tryon, who was present at the signing, said. “So when you have happy teachers, you have happy students and happy students bring happy parents.”

From top administrators to local store employees, the whole community is working to pay it forward to their schools.

“We’re taking the message back to the store and it just kind of [gives] you that extra energy,” Alvarado said. “It has felt like a family.”

For more information on the Adopt-a-School program, contact Dawn Tryon, director of community engagement, at 281-894-3950 or [email protected].