Presto Products Company a business of Alcoa Consumer Products presented a grant totaling $12,000 to the Halifax County Public Schools Education Foundation for Math Manipulatives on Wednesday September 12th.
Logan Young, HCPSEF Chairman was thrilled the school system received the grant stating “this is a wonderful tribute to Alcoa and Presto. What a wonderful way this is to help our community.”
The money from the grant will be used to support two math programs in all seven elementary schools from K-5. The first program is the Kids Plus Program with reading materials related to math which will be purchased to enhance the classroom libraries and math related books available for each grade level. The second program is the Math is Fun Program where each elementary school will hold a math kickoff with activities related to math and fun with math will be done. Math manipulatives will be purchased for each school. This will provide students opportunities for hands-on learning in the classroom. Students will have the opportunity to participate in activities relating to math in day-to-day living; this will enhance the opportunity for students to apply concepts learned to their everyday lives
Students from all seven elementary schools including Clays Mill, Cluster Springs, Meadville, Scottsburg, Sinai, South Boston, and Sydnor Jennings Elementary schools will benefit from the grant. Linda Owen, Supervisor of Elementary Instruction noted this is the first time the schools math program has received a grant. “We’ve had a lot of emphasis placed on reading programs but this is the first time we have had funds to purchase special programs for math and I’m quite excited about it since I think it will give the students the chance to really enjoy math and it’s everyday applications,” she stated.
Paul Stapleton, Superintendent of Halifax County Schools was thrilled as well stating “it is always special to have such partnerships with our local businesses and Alcoa-Presto have been extremely generous with ourschools. They’ve funded reading programs and now are helping with our math. Our students will reap real benefits from these funds.”
James Gordon, the owner of Springfield Distillery, comes by his interest in whiskey naturally. “I grew up with memories of my father moonshining,” says Gordon, who opened his Halifax County distillery in August 2016. “My father is one of the first two private individuals in South Africa to get his license for distilling liquor. I get to tap into 25 years of distillery experience.”
