| The Cottonwood Elementary staff poses with the $5,000 check presented by Gary Arrington. |
The Utah League of Credit Union’s 100 percent for Kids Foundation presented donations to three Emery County schools recently. At Cottonwood Elementary the staff was presented with a check for $5,000 which will go toward expanding the leveled library of non-fiction books K-6. The teachers at Cottonwood Elementary have implemented the guided reading method of teaching reading. The students move from level to level as they increase their skills in reading.
At Huntington Elementary, Valinda Roush accepted the check for $1,200. The money will be used to help purchase Alpha Smart keyboards. These keyboards are used for children with neurological impairments and they enable the child to type on the keyboard and then download their work into a computer from which their assignments are printed out. These keyboards will enable the special education students to work on typing skills, word prediction skills, note taking and word identification. These tools will help the students become more self-sufficient and better equipped to function in the main stream class curriculum.
Ferron Elementary was presented with a check for $5,500. Plans for the funds include increasing the number of books in the guided reading library. Guided reading allows students to read books at their instructional level. The instructional level may be different than their academic grade level. Integration of nonfiction books will also incorporate science and history topics which help teach a subject while also teaching reading skills.
Gary Arrington, representing the Foundation and Desertview Federal Credit Union presented the checks at each of the schools. This foundation makes grants available for schools throughout the state and Arrington encourages all local schools to apply for the grants available.