Empire Elementary educators awarded Rotary Club of Carson City education grant
Empire Elementary, a Governor designated Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) school, got a big boost this week from the Rotary Club of Carson City. The club awarded its annual Rotary Education Grant to two educators at the school.
Instructional Coach Laura Ricks and teacher Nancy Cole will receive $5,000 in grant money to fund their Integrated Math Knowledge Project.
When surprised by club members in her classroom, an emotional Cole was almost speechless. “Anyone who knows me, knows I am rarely at a loss for words, but I am right now,” she said. “Thank you doesn’t seem to be enough. But I know our students and teachers will really benefit from this generous gift.”
The money will allow Ricks and Cole to purchase math-based reading materials for its Lending Library. The library provides resources teachers use to help individual or groups of students gain a better grasp of multiple subjects. “Our lending library has a lot to offer in the areas of literature, social studies and science. But we have a huge gap in books about math,” she said. “As a STEM school, it’s important that teachers have access to more math resources to help their students. I truly believe our students will benefit from these books, and we will see the results in higher test scores later in the school year.”
Fellow teacher Laura Ricks agrees, and adds that some students will benefit even more. “We have many English Language Learning (ELL) students. For them, the vocabulary piece of math is often missing. By providing engaging books to these students, they will increase their knowledge of math related words and vocabulary, which in turn will help improve their math skills.”
Empire Elementary School is also a Title 1 school, which means a large number of students are currently underachieving, come from lower income homes, non-English speaking homes and other challenging situations. The two teachers say their goal is to help all of these students succeed in the STEM program as well as other curriculum. “Our test scores are a bit lower than we would like,” said Ricks. “This award is a great step in overcoming that.”
The Rotary Club of Carson City awards an Education Grant annually. To learn more about the Rotary Club of Carson City and its educational and other programs visit www.carsonrotary.org.