DALLAS – Because of their strong support throughout the years, the Dallas Mavericks have been named as the recipients of the 2018 Jeanne Fagadau Leading the Charge Award.

The prestigious honor — presented recently during the Dallas Independent School District Awards Ceremony as well as during the DISD Board Meeting — recognizes organizations or individuals who have been great advocates for Dallas schools and who have enriched and expanded their relationship with the school district.

The award is named in honor of the late Jeanne Fagadau, an education visionary who served as the Dallas ISD Volunteer Coordinator from 1970-’80. Fagadau supported the formation of the School Volunteer Program, which is an organization that connects volunteers with Dallas school teachers.

While paying homage to Mavs proprietor Mark Cuban, Pamela Lear was overjoyed to announce the Mavs as the recipients of this year’s award.

“For many years Dallas ISD has received great support from Mark Cuban and the Dallas Mavericks,” said Lear, the DISD chief of staff. “They have also provided us introductions to many wonderful partners in the Dallas community.”

In the 2017-2018 school year alone, the Mavs provided all 157,000 DISD students with school supplies and a ticket voucher to attend a Mavs game. That amazing donation was valued at approximately $3.5 million.

Also, the Community Block Ticket program provided tickets to Mavs home games to a variety of after-school programs and school groups. In addition, the Science of Basketball STEM curriculum was launched in 5th and 6th grade classrooms, and Mavs Scholarships were awarded to high school seniors so they could attend college.

The Mavs also teamed up with other partners in order to support DISD students in multiple ways.

“The Dallas Mavericks are honored to receive this recognition from Dallas ISD and appreciate our relationship over the years,” said Katie Edwards, the senior director, community relations for the Mavs. “We are thankful for our partnership to work side-by-side with Dallas ISD and the city of Dallas to offer educational programming, initiatives and donations to schools throughout the district.

“We look forward to many more years of working together to support the Dallas community.”

The other award recipients include the 2018 Succeeding Together Industry Partner Award going to American Airlines, and KPMG picking up the Emmett J. Conrad Extra Mile Award. Meanwhile, the Superintendent’s Award went to Pat and Emmitt Smith Charities.