The Crooms AoIT Alumni Association, Inc. is proud to announce the start of the "Back to School Matching Fundraiser" program. This dollar-for-dollar, 100% matching donation program runs through August 2024 and aims to provide financial support to our general scholarship program. Extra warms and fuzzies for Class of 2005 who give as this school year marks their 20th Anniversary!

The matching donation program runs through August 31st and will match up to $500 in donations. Donors will automatically qualify for membership in the Alumni Association based on the level of their donation and can also be recognized on the website. There are a number of ways for alumni and supporters to give; these include:

• Through our Crooms Alumni website using your Crooms Alumni user account at https://www.croomsalumni.com/donate
• On our PayPal Profile: https://paypal.me/croomsalumni
• Through this Facebook fundraiser at: https://www.facebook.com/donate/1845847259225746/

All donations are 501(c)3 eligible for tax purposes.

The Crooms AoIT Alumni Association has started its 2024-2025 fiscal year by depositing $650 into a dedicated fund to support the Coach Geoffry Alan Haines Athletics Grant Program. This deposit will help ensure the sustainability of the Athletics Grant Program for an indefinite period into the future. This deposit comes from the sale of bricks during the 2023-2024 school year for the Crooms AoIT Alumni Panther Walk.

This deposit of $650 follows our transfer of $1,500 to the Crooms AoIT athletics department in May. This donation aims to support athletics teams and sports clubs in their efforts to provide a full and enriching academic experience to Crooms AoIT students during their high school years. This donation is possible thanks to the support of alumni and community partners through the capital fundraising campaign for the Crooms AoIT Alumni Panther Walk.

Alumni and community partners looking to specifically support Crooms AoIT athletics can directly support the team of their choice through the specialized donation page or support general athletics by purchasing a brick for the Crooms AoIT Alumni Panther Walk.

Dear Crooms AoIT Alumni Association members and supporters,

We are pleased to present our FY24 consolidated income and balance sheet to provide full transparency into how your financial support is used. The Association's fiscal year runs from July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2024. The Association uses cash accounting but lines have been entered to recognize scholarships and brick order commitments made in FY24 that were not paid out during the fiscal year.

A summary of major activities includes:

• Crooms AoIT Boys Basketball Team was provided the $400 Coach Geoffry Alan Haines Athletics Grant.
• 22 additional bricks were sold this year for the Crooms AoIT Panther Walk, ensuring continuous funding for the Coach Geoffry Alan Haines Athletics Grant and the Crooms AoIT Athletics Program. $1,500 was transferred Crooms AoIT Athletics as part of this year's efforts, and $600 was transferred as part of FY23's efforts.
• A $1,200 Crooms AoIT Alumni Association Community Scholarship was awarded to a Class of 2024 graduate - our 18th year of doing so and 21th community scholarship recipient.
• A $1,000 Crooms AoIT Alumni Association Tech Innovation Scholarship was awarded to a Class of 2024 graduate - our 9th year of doing so.
• For the first time, a portion of our fund balance was deposited into a interest-bearing CD to help generate an additional $169.07 of income this year.

A summary of our financials is detailed below:

• The Association started the year with a fund balance (excluding existing commitments) of $4,121.51 in the General Fund and $3,881.26 in the "Brick" Fund (the "Brick" Fund was established in FY22 following the launch of the Crooms AoIT Alumni Panther Walk and is intended to provide support to Crooms AoIT Athletics).
• After removing internal transfers, revenues of $4,396.32 were collected through memberships, donations, brick purchases, and other means - representing a 75% increase from FY23. The Association anticipated this significant increase in revenue in FY24 given a partnership with the Business Advisory Council (BAC) on brick sales.
• After removing internal transfers, expenses of $3,613.07 were recognized - representing a 44% decrease largely due a lack of brick purchases in FY24 for the Crooms AoIT Alumni Panther Walk. Overhead (from PayPal transaction fees) accounted for approximately 1.4% of all expenses for the year.
• An additional $2,200 remains to be disbursed for scholarships awarded during FY24.
• An estimated $1,200 remains to be expensed for brick purchases during FY23 and FY24.

Fund balance (after commitments) ended at $5,386.02, representing an 23% decrease from the end of the previous year (after accounting for scholarship commitments). $2,150.15 of this fund balance is unrestricted in the General Fund while $3,235.87 is restricted in the "Brick Fund".

If you would like more details, we invite you review the attached spreadsheet which includes transaction level detail for the year. Donor information has been removed to protect the privacy of our donors. Do not hesitate to contact us if you should have any questions or concerns.

Thank you for your continued support.

The Crooms AoIT Alumni Association is marking the end of the 2023-2024 school year by transferring $1,500 to the Crooms AoIT athletics department. This donation aims to support athletics teams and sports clubs in their efforts to provide a full and enriching academic experience to Crooms AoIT students during their high school years. This donation is possible thanks to the support of alumni and community partners through the 3rd year capital fundraising campaign for the Crooms AoIT Alumni Panther Walk.

During the summer, the Alumni Association will also make a to-be-determined contribution into a dedicated fund to support the Coach Geoffry Alan Haines Athletics Grant Program. This deposit will help ensure the sustainability of the Athletics Grant Program for an indefinite period into the future.

Alumni and community partners looking to specifically support Crooms AoIT athletics can directly support the team of their choice through the specialized donation page or support general athletics by purchasing a brick for the Crooms AoIT Alumni Panther Walk.

The Crooms AoIT Alumni Association is proud to announce the winners of two scholarships being awarded by the Crooms AoIT Alumni Association to the Class of 2024.

The $1,200 Crooms AoIT Alumni Association Community Scholarship is being awarded to Aribelle B. The Community Scholarship is meant to honor a student not only for academic and extracurricular achievement, but also for dedication to community service. This year, through the multi-scholarship application process, we had 30 applicants, all with different strengths: high GPAs, involvement in school activities, and community involvement. But, Aribelle stuck out from this year's crowded pack of applicants for having all the above qualities while also being able to highlight how her experiences helped her grow as a person.

The Alumni Association is also proud to announce the return of the Tech Innovation Scholarship after a one year hiatus. The Tech Innovation Scholarship recognizes a graduating senior who has used their technical acumen to create or contribute to a technological project or product. We received a record TEN tech innovation project submissions this year. This student’s project stood out for its innovative use of web design, integration with Google's SSO, AI, and business savvy to create a stock research AI that could be commercialized. Parshva's project is impressive for a professional software engineer and that much more so for a high school student. His work highlights the true Tech Innovation that Crooms AoIT students can bring to their projects, organizations, and communities. The Crooms AoIT Alumni Association is pleased to present this year's $1,000 Tech Innovation Scholarship to Parshva P. Congrats to Parshva, and we cannot wait to see what you design next!

Congratulations, and best of luck to our scholarship winners, all of our applicants, and the Class of 2024 in your future endeavors. Go Panthers!