Estes Elementary School and Apollo High School each recently received funding to help improve their classrooms. A $5,000 donation to Estes will go toward school supplies, while a $4,000 grant to Apollo will help pay for updated equipment for their ag classes.
Estes receives $5,000 donation from new Burlington store
Burlington Stores, through its partnership with the national nonprofit organization AdoptAClassroom.org, donated $5,000 toward school supplies to Estes Elementary. The donation was made Friday morning during the grand opening celebration of Burlington’s new store at 2505 Calumet Trace in Gateway Commons.
A representative from AdoptAClassroom.org contacted school administrators and helped to secure the donation for Estes.
According to Principal Ryan Williams, the teachers will use the funds on a number of new classroom items such as books, math manipulatives, science materials and more.
“On behalf of Owensboro Public Schools, I would like to welcome our new local Burlington store and thank them and AdoptAClassroom.org for their generous donation to our school,” Williams said. “Our teachers are so excited to purchase the tools they need, whether teaching in the classroom or in the virtual environment.”
AdoptAClassroom.org is a national, award-winning nonprofit that advances equity in education by providing flexible and accountable funding for PreK-12 teachers and schools throughout the U.S.
Apollo High School ag program receives $4,000 grant from Kentucky FFA Foundation
Starting next fall, Apollo High School students will be able to take agriculture classes in new classrooms with updated equipment and more opportunities for hands-on learning. Some of the equipment will be funded by a $4,000 Ag Achievers grant from the Kentucky FFA Foundation.
Some of the equipment being funded through the grant includes new welders, small animal pens, seed propagation mats for the greenhouse, and a 3-ton electric hoist.
“We’re going to be able to have more labs where students will get to work with animals,” said Aaron Tucker, one of the agriculture teachers at Apollo. “We’ll be able to introduce students to skills like rigging. We have a large crane company here in town that does work all around the United States. If we can show students the possibilities for careers while they’re here, they may get interested and find a career after they graduate.”
Funding for Ag Achiever grants comes from the $10 donations farm license-plate holders can choose to give when they renew their tags, as well as from a generous donation by Universal Leaf.
Sheldon McKinney, executive director of the Kentucky FFA Foundation, believes the grant at Apollo will have a far-reaching impact.
“When we give funds to an agricultural education program, it doesn’t just impact a handful of students,” she said. “Hundreds of students a day pass through ag ed classrooms and every year, you get new students. The impact is tremendous.”
