Thanks to the generosity of the Ann Arbor Western Kiwanis Club, 240 new calculators are now in use by second graders at Dicken, Lakewood and Haisley elementaries.
According to Dawn Linden, AAPS executive director of elementary education, the club has long supported the school district with new take-home dictionaries for the students, and was quick to help when members learned of the need for replacement calculators.
“We couldn’t be more grateful for this donation and for the ongoing support we received from this dedicate organization,” Linden said.
The club’s past president, Richard Pitcher, said that the calculator program is the members’ biggest project.
“We are a smaller club—about 20—that tries to do as much for the Ann Arbor community as possible,” he said.
Kiwanis has always supported AAPS schools in very concrete ways, said Haisley Elementary Principal Kathleen Scarnecchia.
“Their organizational mission to do so is enhanced by the local members who are current or retired AAPS teachers and administrators,” she said. “Teachers and students across the district benefit directly from their consistent generosity.”
Dicken Elementary Principal Michael Madison called the gift “an awesome surprise.”
“We no longer had classroom sets of calculators, so it was perfect timing!” he said, adding that the second graders immediately started using the calculators.
“It’s always nice to have Christmas in January and the Dicken community really appreciates Kiwanis’s continued support,” he said.
According to Lakewood Elementary Principal Michelle Seals, calculators are not considered a consumable item such as paper or pencils, but do eventually stop working.
“The wonderful support of Kiwanis covers the replacement of this valuable math tool,” she said.
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