POINT PLEASANT — The Point Pleasant chapter of Alpha Delta Kappa donated grants to local schools and gifts to local nursing homes this week.
The New Jersey chapter of Alpha Delta Kappa, an international organization of female educators, recently awarded a grant to two teachers in local elementary schools and donated gifts to nursing home residents.
Mary Lynn Ritchings, treasurer and member of Alpha Delta Kappa for over 25 years, told The Ocean Star the money is raised through an annual yard sale.
“We raised over $1,000 in the yard sale this year, and this is our first year giving grants. In the past we always gave scholarships to a Point Pleasant Borough (high school) senior, a Point Pleasant Beach (high school) senior and a special education student from either,” said Ritchings.
This year, the organization opted to forgo the scholarships and instead award grants to teachers instead. Ritchings said, “We can get involved and meet more teachers in the school that way who can reach a lot of students with our grant money.”
Erin Fazio, a special education teacher in Nellie F. Bennett Elementary School, was awarded $200 for the first grant. According to a press release from Alpha Delta Kappa, she will utilize the grant money to incorporate sensory integration activities in her pull-out classroom of first and second graders.
According to Fazio’s grant application, “sensory integration plays a crucial role in student development, impacting motor skills, cognitive abilities and social-emotional growth.”
She will be using the grant to purchase a weighted handball, letter-tracing sensory pads, liquid floor tiles, sensory strips and classroom light filters. Fazio said, “Without adequate core stability and sensory regulations, students are unable to perform to the best of their abilities in any classroom environment.”
This is an excerpt of the print article. For more on this story, read The Ocean Star—on newsstands Friday or online in our e-Edition.
Check out our other Point Pleasant Boro stories, updated daily. And remember to pick up a copy of The Ocean Star—on newsstands Friday or online in our e-Edition.
Subscribe today! If you're not already an annual subscriber to The Ocean Star, get your subscription today! For just $38 per year, you will receive local mail delivery weekly, with pages and pages of local news and online access to our e-edition on Starnewsgroup.com.