The Partnership Plan’s Board of Directors recently approved a Big Impact Grant to provide books for online learners in elementary schools across the Stillwater Area Public School district. In the fall of 2020, Annie Johnson, a teacher from Brookview Elementary School, proposed a Classroom Grant that would allow the school to create a lending library specifically for this year’s 100% online learners. She aptly pointed out that when Covid hit and families were able to choose between learning on the dial or joining a 100% online classroom, teachers in the 100% online classrooms found themselves without access to the type of leveled books that help them teach their students throughout the year. Many teachers needed to pack up their classrooms, place their books in storage and work from home. Others left their classrooms intact and allowed other teachers to take over their rooms, and their books, to teach the on-the-dial students. While online elementary teachers quickly took to reading apps like Scholastic and Epic to fill the book void, they found that students struggled to read books online having spent so much time doing all their other work online. The Partnership Plan’s board approved Annie’s proposal to bring leveled books to Brookview in the fall of 2020.
Immediately, TPP staff began working with district staff to replicate this program in the other 6 elementary schools in the district. In January 2021, The Partnership Plan’s Board of Directors approved a $16,000 Big Impact Grant to do just that, providing hundreds of books to each school. The grant was designed to purchase one leveled set for each elementary school while also allowing the district to purchase additional books to distribute based on the number of students in each school to ensure equitable distribution of the reading materials. After schools are able to return to normal, these lending libraries will be used as a way to supplement the books in classrooms across the district to ensure that teachers always have access to enough books that meet the needs of their current students.
This Big Impact Grant, as well as the Classroom Grant that started it all, are provided through a generous endowment in the name of Mary Jo Weingarten. In February 2001, The Partnership Plan established The Weingarten “What’s Best For Kids” Endowment Fundas a permanent legacy in memory of Mary Jo. Over the years, the principal amount of this fund has grown with contributions from the Stillwater Sunrise Rotary Club and other donors. The Partnership Plan uses profits from these funds to promote Mary Jo’s love of reading and literature in any area, grades K-12.
The Partnership Plan was established in 1989 and is the educational fund for Stillwater Area Public Schools. We are an independent, 501(c)3 non-profit organization.
Our mission: The Partnership Plan connects the community and its resources to Stillwater Area Public Schools to support exceptional learning experiences for students.
Find out more @ www.partnershipplan.org / 651-439-3172