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LAFOLLETTE, TN (SPECIAL TO WLAF) – Valley View Elementary School recently received a $2,000 grant from the Dollar General Literacy Foundation. Grant funds will go towards to supporting the elementary school’s literacy efforts.
The grant was part of the Dollar General Literacy Foundation’s awarding of nearly $2.6 million nation wide to over 600 schools, libraries, and nonprofit organizations in the communities where Dollar Generals are located.
“I am so excited to have received this grant from Dollar General Literacy Foundation. I love to read and can contribute this to a program much like this one we are initiating here at Valley View. It was over 50 years ago, but I still remember the books I read when I was in elementary school. I loved visiting the library, discovering new worlds, and having new adventures in the books I read. This is what I hope to achieve with this grant.” said Valley View’s MaryAnn Ayers.
Valley View Principal Jason Dotson said the grant was “greatly appreciated and would help students with their reading skills.”
“Literacy is the basic foundation for all learning so that we can help create lifelong readers. That doesn’t just happen, it takes a school wide culture to make this happen,” Dotson said.
Battle of the Books is a reading incentive program for grades two through five. Students read books, come together, and test their knowledge of the books they read in a game style setting. The Librarian, Mrs. Tina Johnson, will reinforce the standards of writing summaries. These skills ELA teachers teach in the classrooms. Students, teachers, and the library will receive resources to make this year’s reading memorable and fun for all.
“We are proud to award these grants to literacy and education programs across the country and support their meaningful work of expanding children’s joy of reading and creating a foundation for future educational growth,” shared Denine Torr, executive director of the Dollar General Literacy Foundation. “We are excited to make a difference in thousands of students’ lives through these donations and look forward to making more positive impacts as we celebrate the Foundation’s 30th anniversary year.”
The Dollar General Literacy Foundation supports organizations that increase access to educational programming, stimulate and enable innovation in the delivery of educational instruction and inspire a love of reading. Each year the Dollar General Literacy Foundation awards funds to nonprofit organizations, schools and libraries within a 15 mile radius if a Dollar General store or distribution center to support adult, family, summer and youth literacy programs. The foundation also offers a student referral program fir individuals interested in learning how to read, speak English or prepare for the high school equivalency exam.
Since 1993 the Dollar General Literacy Foundation has awarded over $238 million in grants to nonprofit organizations, helping more than 19.6 million individuals take their first steps toward literacy, a general education diploma or English proficiency. (WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED – 09/18/2023-6AM)