The Rotary Club of Yelm, a nonprofit organization serving the Nisqually Valley, has awarded 26 grants totaling over $11,000 to elementary teachers in the Yelm Community Schools district.
The grants, which range from $200 to $500 each, will support reading literacy by funding books, learning games and other resources that would have otherwise gone unfunded. Twenty-six teachers from the six elementary schools will receive the annual contributions funded through the Rotary Club’s fundraisers and other grants.
This year, the Cowlitz Tribe supported the club’s grants and allowed it to give out more money to teachers than usual. Over the last five years since it offered the grants, the club has awarded over $30,000 in teacher support.
“One of the areas of service that the Rotary Club cares about is early education and literacy. We chose literacy as we really feel that reading and writing are important skills for all kids to have,” Sandi Hanson, club executive secretary and treasurer, said. “That’s why we chose to do our grants geared toward bringing more sustainable additions to literacy into the classroom.”
During the application process, teachers could request a specific amount of grant funding depending on their needs within the classroom. Hanson said many teachers requested funds to add more books to their libraries, phonics tools and other reading and writing devices to help students learn in a fun and engaging way. The club orders the requested supplies and delivers them to the teachers who receive the awards.
“The emails that I’m getting from the teachers have had a lot of gratitude, and they’re excited to bring these items to their classrooms and to their kids,” Hanson said. “It gave them an opportunity to kind of do a wish list of, ‘If I had the money, this is what I would buy.’ That’s what we want to fulfill. We want to fulfill something that will benefit the kids and make the teachers’ jobs a little easier.”
Hanson said she and the club would like to see the community continue to get involved in its various programs. The Rotary Club of Yelm also has a pantry program in each district school in to supply students in need with food items. Additionally, the organization highlights one student every month for its student of the month program and awards them with $300 of gift cards and certificates from nine business partners. Yelm High School senior Taliah Boyd was the September student of the month.
“If there’s a community member that wants to help us to donate or to come out and help us deliver items, they’re more than welcome,” Hanson said. “I see us as a community needing to come together even more and help our kids. That’s our No. 1 priority and has been since we formed … youth support in our community.”
To learn more about the Rotary Club of Yelm, visit its website at https://www.yelmrotary.org//.
