DANFORTH, Maine — As the old saying goes, every penny counts. During the fall of 2012, David Faulkner, owner of Dave’s Hardware in Danforth, generously donated a shed in front of his business for the use of collecting bottles from community members, in order to help provide funding for East Grand School. With every bottle adding up, almost $2,000 has been collected for the benefit of students.
“David’s generosity has been a real blessing. He stepped in at a time when there wasn’t any wiggle room in the budget for any extras. The additional money has allowed the school the luxury of providing programming that we simply could not have afforded on our own.” said Tammi Matula, physical education and health teacher for East Grand School.
In the 2012-2013 school year, funds helped supplement the math program by helping to fund the purchase of ALEKS accounts for all students in grades 3-8 and a handful of high school accounts. An IXL math license was also purchased for students in pre-K-3rd grade. The school still has funds left in an account to use for math incentives.
During the 2013-2014 school year, money has been used to purchase Math Olympics medallions for pre-K-5 students, cross-country ski bindings, as well as material for community member John Bridgan to build additional storage for cross-country skis.
Most recently, funds have helped with the cost of renting mountain bikes from Maine Winter Sports, for the elementary and junior high physical education classes.
“Students had a blast biking in the school’s fields and exploring the muddy snowmobile trail, adjacent to school grounds,” Matula said. “Most excited, were the three students who persevered and were able to learn to bike for the first time! The bikes were such a hit with the students, that the school would like to use funds collected this summer to either rent the bikes again next spring or purchase a fleet of their own.
“East Grand School would like to thank David and his wife Julie for their consistent generosity to the school, she added. “Their commitment to invest in the youth, truly serves as a great example of what makes small communities thrive.”
