Aug. 26, 2003 – Members of St. Thomas Rotary Club East continued their back-to-school tradition on Monday in handing out packets of school supplies to 220 first graders — and expanded the program by providing, for the first time, special packets for the children's teachers.
"Getting off to a good start at the beginning of a school year takes everyone," Doris Daniel, acting principal of Edith L. Williams Elementary School, said. Daniel and Edith Williams teacher Lorna Mulley are second-year participants in the program, which the Rotary group started in 1999.
"We hope that what is presented to you lasts not only for this year but for years to come, as you build the path for your academic careers," Mulley told her first graders.
In the student packets were rulers, pencils, erasers, pencil sharpeners, glue sticks, scissors, notebooks, crayons and a reading book.
"This is the first year we've included a teacher packet," Susan Roy, Rotary East committee chair, said. In those packets are supplies teachers will need for their classrooms, she said.
The Rotarians also presented packets to first graders and their teachers at Jane E. Tuitt, Evelyn Marcelli, Leonard Dober and Ulla Muller Schools.
"Schools are chosen on the basis of size and need," Roy said. She said the Rotary club hopes to expand the program to one additional school each year.
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