Sisters group gives school book grant

The Sisters Elementary School (SES) library and classrooms have just been awarded $7,400 by the Sisters Parent Teacher Community (SPTC) for the acquisition of books and literacy-building resources.

The grant includes grade-level classrooms and special classrooms such as Speech, Lifeskills and Reading.

SPTC facilitator Peyton Griffin said, "We are so thankful for the contributions of families, businesses, staff and students that resulted in our ability to bring so many new books and reading resources to SES."

SPTC raised the funds for this project through the school's annual Green and Gold Gala Auction.

After numerous discussions and meetings, staff and parents at SES decided that the most important contribution SPTC could make this year was to strengthen literacy programs throughout the school. Reading Specialist and Title 1 Coordinator Stephanie Jensen thinks the SPTC literacy grants will be very helpful in growing SES's teaching resources and helping devise new strategies for specific skill levels.

"Literacy resources provided by the SPTC grants will be utilized to support teachers in the implementation of interventions and enrichment opportunities targeted at specific skill development in order to advance student learning," she said.

First grade teachers Pam Cole, Joni Stengel and Gretchen Boelens said, "We are thrilled that SPTC has funded materials for Word Work, which helps children experiment with words in hands-on activities that teach spelling patterns, word families, and phonetic skills."

"The SPTC contribution to the elementary school is the culmination of a lot of hard work by parents, staff, and administration," said SPTC treasurer Winter Lewis. "It is a pleasure to work with such a dedicated group."