Did you know that each recipient of a Community Grant from the Galloway Ridge Charitable Fund is expected to submit an end-of-year report? Although the deadline is not until November, some reports already have been submitted.
Last Fall, we had a grant application from pre-kindergarten teachers of a special needs class at Pittsboro Elementary School. The teachers try to find the processes that work best to engage, teach, diminish inappropriate behaviors and continue the learning process. Based on their research and on the results of a successful program in Minnesota, the teachers requested $962 to buy an iPad2 with appropriate educational software – a purchase to be made at the State contract price.
In their grant report, the teachers, speaking for their students, say, in part: we are learning animal names and we can hear the sounds they make; we can tell people what we want and need and how we feel. The teachers say that some of their students can’t talk, some can’t attend to a task for more than a minute, some are aggressive, some frustrate very easily, many have poor academic and writing skills and a small vocabulary. They say, “Our iPad2 makes working on all these skills fun and successful in varied degrees with each and every child.” The report is signed, “With love and thanks from the preschool kids and staff at Pittsboro Elementary School.”
Submitted by Lee Miller