Wine-tasting fundraising event a success for St. Stephen’s School

Head of School Marsha Acock and Event Co-Chair Kristie Kimbell.

WIMBERLEY – This past Sunday marked what hopes to be the first annual wine-tasting fundraising event for St. Stephen’s Episcopal School. This was the idea that parents Kristie Kimbell and Nancy Funderburk brought back from a visit this past summer to St. Mark’s Episcopal School in Altadena, Ca.
This past June, on their own dime, Head of School Marsha Acock and a group of St. Stephen’s parents traveled to California on a mission to bring back tools from another Episcopal school that has experienced similar peaks and valleys that St. Stephen’s has lived through in its nearly 25 year history. Today this model school celebrates a steady success on many levels with enrollment, parent participation, fundraising and raising the bar for education, and St. Stephen’s brought back from this trip a determination and hope for the same.
In an effort to better engage the community, as well as the St. Stephen’s school and church families, this new idea of hosting a wine-tasting event hit the mark. Fun and funds were raised at The Leaning Pear, with antipasti pairings prepared by Chef Matthew Buchanan to compliment the varieties of wine poured by Martin Ulisse Imports of Corpus Christi. The Leaning Pear and Martin Ulisse Imports sponsored this event with their donations of the venue, services and wine. Annie James Boutique also sponsored all promotional and printed materials for the event.
“This event exceeded everyone’s expectations with great wine education, unique wines to sample, fabulous food, and a wonderful spirit of support for St. Stephen’s,” Acock said.
St. Stephen’s Episcopal School, established in 1989 as an active ministry of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, enrolls children from Pre-K3 through sixth grade at the 52-acre campus it shares with the church. St. Stephen’s is fully accredited, including preschool, by the Southwestern Association of Episcopal Schools, and its curriculum includes weekly chapel services, Spanish instruction at all levels, studio art, music, technology, archery instruction, and indoor and outdoor physical education. The campus consists of a fully-equipped gymnasium, library, technology lab, science lab, three playgrounds, outdoor classroom and discovery garden and nature trail. Enrollment is now open for fall 2013.
For additional information, see St. Stephen’s on-line at ststeveschool.org or contact Acock at marsha.acock@ststeveschool.org [1] or at (512) 847-9857.