By taking a proactive approach towards bettering both the school and student education, Dehning, a 38-year teaching veteran, was able to take it upon herself to fight for funding and on September 7 that battle was made worthwhile as her efforts culminated in a $1,000 grant award provided to Brush’s Thomson Primary School by the Dollar General Literacy Foundation.
The Dollar General Literacy Foundation grant was just one of many awarded by the entity to assist with implementing new or expanding youth literacy programs, to purchase new technology or equipment to support youth literacy initiatives or to purchase books, materials or software for youth literacy programs.
For Thomson Primary, that means a fresh new crop of books and literature that will assist in building math and literacy skills through non-fiction text and vocabulary materials to build academic vocabulary and background knowledge.
“It’s nice because we’ve had so little money with cutbacks,” Dehning said. “We were in need of funds to buy more books and, of course, we do anything we can to help the children.”
“The Dollar General Literacy Foundation is pleased to support the literacy efforts of Thomson Primary School,” said Rick Dreiling, chairman and CEO of Dollar General. “The Youth Literacy grants are awarded annually at the start of the school year so that the funds are in place to have an impact on reading education and support.
In August, the Dollar General Literacy Foundation awarded grants totaling more than $2 million to 564 non-profit organizations, community groups, schools and libraries throughout the United States. It is estimated that approximately 315,000 youth will be served as a result of these grants.
For more information about the Dollar General Literacy Foundation or a list of recipients, visit www.dgliteracy.org.