2023 Sparking Academic Excellence Breakfast

The Annual Sparking Academic Excellence Breakfast will occur on April 27th at the Waterloo Convention Center. Get ready to interact with student and staff representatives, alumni, and fellow champions of public education.

This year's emcee is Akwi Nji, Director of School and Community Relations at the Waterloo Community School District. Outisde of this position, Akwi is an artist creating in words, voice, and visual art. She specializes in creative personal narrative storytelling across artistic mediums and through producing and curating community-focused arts programming. Read more about Akwi on her website.

Our keynote speaker is Edita Begic, President of Vine Valley Real Estate. As a graduate of the University of Northern Iowa's Finance program, Edita learned the fundamental principles of business that shaped her career early on. Over the years, Edita has held various positions of increasing responsibility in the business industry, including 10 years of management-level experience. Through it all, she has remained committed to putting people first and fostering strong relationships. Edita states one of her top priorities is community integration. She is proud to have played an active role in giving back to the communities she serves. This commitment was recently recognized as Edita was named one of The Courier's 20 Under 40 in 2022, an honor that highlights young professionals making an impact in the Cedar Valley.

Dr. Jared Smith, Superintendent of Waterloo Community School District, will give a State of the District Address and Hannah Luce, Executive Director at Waterloo Schools Foundation, will share updates about the Foundation and the impacts of our dollars this past year.

Individual tickets are $25 and corporate sponsorships start at $250. Any questions can be directed to Hannah Luce (h.luce@wscfoundation.org or 319-939-9550).

Join us, on April 27th at 7:00 AM in the Waterloo Convention Center to celebrate and acknowledge our district's academic successes!