No matter the class,
students are always taking notes.
"Miss Lea is kind of
like a mom to us. She's the mama bear," Fourth grader Quinna Butler said.
So it was no surprise that
when Saint Helena elementary fourth graders did not have the tools they needed,
Miss Lea was going to find a way to get them.
"It's a fourth grade
South Carolina state music standard that they learn how to play the recorder,
and we only had 25, and we had 60-80 fourth graders last year, so we didn't have
enough," Lea said.
Lea heard about the
Foundation for Educational Excellence.
It's a group that makes teachers' dreams like this come to life, through
$500 grants.
"I think it's
important that kids get all kind of cultural experiences, field trips," Peggy
May with the Foundation of Educational Excellence said. "Above and beyond the reading, writing and
'rithmatic, so to speak, that they get in a normal school day."
Lea's wish of recorders
was right up foundation's mission. And
while they can play Hot Cross Buns and some of your other childhood favorites
all day, the benefits of this musical experience, Lea believes, go far beyond
these walls.
"It activates parts
of the brain that aren't activated normally," Lea said. "So it improves focus and the practice of
discipline, the discipline of practice, and working together in my classroom
helps them outside of my classroom."
The Foundation for Educational
Excellence gives the monies through the support of the community.
Their big fundraiser is
coming up March 2nd at Hilton Head Country Club.
It's called Jewels and Jeans-- and tickets
are on sale and they are hoping you'll join in.
For more info on tickets- visit www.Foundationedexcellence.com
