Proving once again what a generous lot most Villagers are, The Villages Area Michigan State University Alumni Club awarded education grants to three middle schools in Marion County Thursday evening at their annual meeting. This is their sixth year of presenting the grants. The club rotates between Marion, Sumter, and Lake counties; providing grants for worthwhile projects that are not funded in the general budget.
This year $500 grants went to Osceola Middle School, Howard Middle School and North Middle School. The club raises money for these grants throughout the year by selling 50/50 raffle tickets at meetings and their annual Casino Night event.
George Tomyn, superintendent of schools for Marion County opened the presentation ceremony by thanking the club for all they do to support children. He also commended the recipients for their initiative to apply for this special grant which covers unique opportunities. Karen Sherman, chairman of the education committee for the club then presented the checks to the recipients.
Principal Suzette Parker accepted the check for Osceola Middle School. The grant money will be used to purchase Playaways for their media-center. Playaways are credit card sized self-contained audio books. She said in accepting the check that the purpose of the Playaways are two-fold, “They help struggling readers sit and enjoy a book and they help our are very active kids busy with so many extra-curricular activities, listen to audio books saving time while they earn AR points.”
The next check was presented to Howard Middle School Assistant Principal Ernest Mitchell. They will use the money to partially fund the rewards earned by the 14 teams participating in the Math Fantasy League. The League is for students not performing well in math, Mitchell said. Currently they have 223 students participating. In the past year 107 students have gained more than half a year with seven students gaining a year’s growth in Math. The competition of the teams spurs them to enjoy learning and along the way helps them to become proficient in Math.
Scott Spangler, teacher and Captain of the Civil Air Patrol accepted the award for North Marion Middle School. He started the Civil Air Patrol at his school less than a year ago and with 64 cadets it is already the largest student unit in the state of Florida. The patrol is an auxiliary of the United States Air Force. The students meet early in the morning before school starts. The money will be used to purchase guidons which for the uninitiated are flags used to identify their squadron.
