New Beth-Center curriculum receives financial boost
Bethlehem-Center School District’s proposed new curriculum for language arts and math is receiving some financial help from a local fundraiser.
The BeeGraphix 0.5K, held July 29, raised $7,050, which will be donated to the district for students in kindergarten and first grade.
Davis Slagle, BeeGraphix vice president, said this was the fourth year for the event. He and his wife, along with his parents, are Beth-Center alums. Plus, the company has a location in Fredericktown.
“We have a business located in the Beth-Center School District,” Slagle said. “The idea was to try to raise money where it just doesn’t go to one group; everybody in that district can benefit from it.”
Slagle said the decision for where the money would go this year did take a little bit of time.
“We knew the district was implementing a curriculum change,” he said. “We wanted to directly impact whatever group of kids was going to have that curriculum change and push some money to give teachers the necessary materials to teach that curriculum.”
The walk took place at the Green Cove Yacht Club in Clarksville and had 195 participants.
Slagle said a handful of Beth-Center teachers were on hand at the event to assist in registration and take part.
Outdated textbooks and low scores on the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) test were among the factors leading toward the district looking to adopt a new curriculum for students in kindergarten through eighth grade. It will be funded by $322,000, acquired through the American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (ESSER).
Beth-Center Superintendent Donald MacFann said the school board is expected to approve a vendor for the curriculum at its Aug. 15 meeting.
“It took a little longer than normal, because we want to make sure we’re getting what’s going to benefit our kids to the best of their abilities,” MacFann said, “We really took some time to narrow it down to what we need to improve the learning for our kids in grades K-8.”
MacFann said he hopes the curriculum will be able to be implemented for students in kindergarten through fifth grade as soon as possible upon approval.
This donation from BeeGraphix will be helpful, as it will allow for teachers to purchase materials to help students in kindergarten and first grade with learning concepts such as the alphabet and number combinations.
“One of the concerns that kindergarten and first-grade teachers have are the basic skills some of our kids come in with,” MacFann said. “That ($7,050) is going to be great to allow them to buy into those resources to help some of those kids grasp those concepts that will help them when they start to take part in the formal education process.”