Staff Writer
PRESQUE ISLE – Tammy Willey, a kindergarten teacher at Pine Street Elementary School, recently answered the call and received classroom funding from U.S. Cellular’s 2009 Calling All Teachers campaign.
Teachers across the country submitted projects through the wireless company’s initiative, and projects included everything from textbooks and pencils to projectors and easels to help enrich the learning experiences for students.
According to Willey, the money will be used for activities that will help “close the gap between the ability levels” in her classroom.
“I have the responsibility of teaching my young students the skills that are needed to learn how to read. This includes teaching letters, letter sounds, rhymes, and word recognition,” she said in her request application. “This is a challenge because 70 percent of my students have never attended a preschool prior to entering kindergarten and many have not received the necessary exposure to the early reading skills and activities that are so important.
“I also face the challenge of teaching students who will eventually qualify for special education services, but, due to their young age, have not yet been identified,” she said. “I want to ensure that all my students have an equal opportunity to learn and grow no matter what level they are performing at.”
The phonological activities Willey selected will help students build, sort, write and manipulate letters, sounds, rhymes and words.
“Students can work together to practice and improve their phonic and phonemic awareness skills,” she said. “These activities, which pair perfectly with our research-based reading series, will provide all students with the opportunity to learn, grow and feel good about what they are learning and able to do.”
The $462 that Willey requested and received will purchase an activity stand, a set of Match-A-Sound! Phonemic Awareness Boxes, Magnetic Sound Sorting Boards, Sight-Word Tactile Cards and Make-A-Match Phonics Games.
Willey said she was thrilled to receive the funding.
“My students will have the opportunity to take part in specific learning activities that will build a solid academic foundation,” she said. “Together we can provide these young children with the best opportunity for future reading success!”
When U.S. Cellular launched the Calling All Teachers campaign a few weeks ago, it planned to fund $1 million worth of teacher requests through DonorsChoose.org – a non-profit Web site that links donors with educators facing shrinking budgets – but the response from teachers was beyond expectations. The Web site received more than 2,000 submissions in the markets where U.S. Cellular does business.
“The response to this campaign from teachers across our footprint was so incredible that we couldn’t imagine leaving any of their classroom projects unfunded,” said Eric Conlon, director of sales for U.S. Cellular in New England. “Our teachers go above and beyond for their students every day. So we decided to go above our original $1 million budget to support all of them.”
U.S. Cellular has committed to helping schools in 2009-2010 through funding and volunteerism. Earlier this year, U.S. Cellular awarded $1 million to 10 schools across the country through its Calling All Communities campaign.
For more information about Calling All Teachers, visit uscellular.com/callingallteachers or the Presque Isle U.S. Cellular store.
Staff photo/Scott Mitchell Johnson
TAMMY WILLEY, a kindergarten teacher at Pine Street Elementary School, recently received classroom funding from U.S. Cellular’s 2009 Calling All Teachers campaign. Willey requested and received $462 that will be used to purchase phonological activities that will help students build, sort, write and manipulate letters, sounds, rhymes and words. Last Wednesday, officials with the Presque Isle U.S. Cellular store visited Willey’s afternoon classroom and presented her with a certificate. Congratulating Willey, along with her students are, back row, from left: Darlene Rogers, retail wireless consultant; Celby, company mascot; Willey, and Gary Hebert, Presque Isle store manager.