Country Superstar Cody Johnson Headlines $2M Gala for TEACH

Daniel Ortiz and Jacob Power

Phyllis and Cornel Wiliams

TEXAS WILDFLOWERS, RODEO relics and country music had the 700-plus supporters of To Educate All Children (TEACH) boot-scooting around the ballroom of the Post Oak Hotel at the organization’s 10-year anniversary gala.

The party raised a record-breaking $1.9 million and honored the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo for its nearly century-long commitment to public education. The Cowboy Auctioneer led the live auction, in which a VIP package to Cody Johnson’s next H-Town concert prompted quite the bidding war.

In a bittersweet twist, TEACH announced that the nonprofit would net the entire amount raised, as late longtime supporter Fayez Sarofim underwrote the event with a check received the week after his passing in May. The Rodeo was named the inaugural recipient of the Fayez Sarofim Champion for TEACH award. And Robinson Elementary School teacher Jennifer Silva received the first-ever Champion for TEACH Educator award, presented by the organization’s executive director, Alvin Abraham, who previously worked at Robinson. "We feel like TEACH is the champion tonight,” said Abraham. “Thank you to everyone who made this event a success. TEACH already reaches over 20,000 students, and thanks to everyone’s help tonight, we can help even more students and teachers.”