The McDonald’s Texas Invitational Basketball Tournament scored big again for the district’s teachers and students as the event raised $75,000 for the Pasadena ISD Education Foundation.

Members of the tournament’s steering committee presented the Education Foundation with the check at the January Board of Trustees meeting. The funds will be used to provide grants and other educational resources to teachers around the district.

“We very appreciative for this generous contribution,” Pasadena ISD Superintendent Kirk Lewis said. “These funds go directly toward the classroom and helping our teachers provide innovative and creative instruction that reaches the hearts and minds of kids.”

The pre-Thanksgiving feast of high school basketball was held Nov. 16-18, 2006 at all five high schools, Beverly Hills Intermediate and Phillips Gymnasium. In addition to the hardwood action, a festival event called Hoop-La provided fun events for all ages.

More than 30,000 fans attended the three-day event this year. McDonald’s restaurant came on board in 2005 as the headline sponsor for the event, which has positioned itself as one of the best high school basketball tournaments in the state. The 48-team boys’ bracket featured several of the state's top ranked teams, as did the 24-team girls’ bracket.

Representatives of the Pasadena area community, its businesses, its citizens launched the tournament five years ago and began dreaming about an event that would spotlight the top basketball talent in the state, while at the same time introducing the rest of Texas to our the school district and all that is good about the City of Pasadena, its people and its outstanding business climate.

“In just a few short years, the tournament has grown in stature to become one of the premier invitational basketball tournaments in Texas and is gaining a national reputation for excellence…not just because of the quality of basketball played, but because of the support and enthusiasm of hundreds of community volunteers who have made this a special event for everyone involved,” said Ben Meador, tournament chairman.

For information on the tournament, log on to www.texasinvitational.com.