Quarterfield Elementary Reading Initiative Gets $500 Boost

A new initiative that encourages first graders at to read 100 books in a year received a boost last month after the school received a $500 grant from the 2011 Grants4Teachers award.

The Community Foundation of Anne Arundel County managed the grant that goes out twice a year to educators who request additional funding.

“Teachers apply for the grant with a project they want to do in their school," said Jan Hoffberger, program director for the Community Foundation of Anne Arundel County (CFAAC). "It needs to be a project they can’t get funded through their normal school budget. A lot of the time, these projects are things the teachers do out of their own pocket.”

At Quarterfield Elementary, the money went toward purchasing new books for an initiative called the 100 Book Club. The program gives children books that they can take home, read with their parents and then bring back to the school to show their improved reading skills.

First grade teacher Alyssa Wiles applied for the grant in the early months of 2011, received the money in April, and is now executing her plan to get first graders reading early and often.

“We were able to order 15 boxes of books," Wiles said in a letter to the CFAAC. "When they arrived, our students, all members of the 100 Book Club, were thrilled,”

The program allows students to read both at home and at school with volunteers in the hopes of creating a greater desire to read, Hoffberger said.

The CFAAC, M&T BANK and Joseph Van Deuren of Balanced Life Skills in Annapolis were major donors who contributed money for the funds. Twice a year, the grant is given to educators who receive a maximum of $500 for their projects, Hoffberger said.

In addition to Quarterfield Elementary, four other teachers received $500 from Grants4Teachers throughout the county.

• Tyler Heights Elementary, Paula Borinksy, teacher. Money will fund a reading project for boys called Book Bashes, carrying a theme of superheroes, adventures and other fun facts.

• Tyler Heights Elementary, Deborah L. Santos, teacher. Funding will support a new program that assists in fifth graders with college bound materials since may of the students will be the first in their families to attend college.

• Crofton Middle School, Nancy J. Baker, teacher. Money will be used to purchase a printer and ink cartridges for a new program that teachers children how to use the Photoshop software.

• School South, M Hartman, teacher. Money will pay for the bus rental and program fees for 60 Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) students to execute a month-long study at the Chesapeake Bay.