At the Putnam County Charter School System’s Opening Day Convocation, Putnam Education Foundation Board Chair Eric Arena outlined PEF’s mission and the progress the organization has made since its 2025 relaunch. Founded in 2018, PEF connects community resources with the needs of PCCSS students, funding the ideas, extras, and opportunities that state and local dollars alone can’t cover. In FY2026, the foundation raised $86,000 — a sixfold increase over prior years — and secured a $17,000 makerspace grant for Putnam Middle School, while also gaining approval for the PEACH Tax Credit program, which allows Georgia taxpayers to redirect state dollars to PEF’s Opportunity Fund.
Arena highlighted ways that PEF invests in students, including Teacher Innovation Grants, which fund classroom projects teachers couldn’t otherwise afford, and the Opportunity Fund, which ensures no student sits out a club, competition, or college visit because of cost. He also celebrated more than two dozen teacher grant recipients from across the district, whose funded projects ranged from a student-led podcast to a school farm learning lab to a high school piano lab expansion.
Arena closed by introducing a new payroll giving program for PCCSS staff, inviting employees to contribute any amount each paycheck directly to PEF. He noted that 100 staff members giving just $10 per paycheck would generate $24,000 in predictable annual revenue — and, just as importantly, would send a powerful signal to the broader community that the people closest to Putnam County’s students believe in investing in them.
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