Herkimer Schools In Line For Challenge Grant

Mount Markham Central School and Herkimer Central School are two of several rural schools to get grants from the state's Rural Education Advisory Committee, Senator James L. Seward said today.
Mount Markham will be receiving $2,500 for its "Love Literacy" after school program. Its goal is to motivate and nurture kindergarten through fourth grade students' love of literacy in reading, writing, listening and speaking. The goal is to boost student achievement for approximately forty at risk students.
Herkimer Central School is in line for $2,500 to develop a new model of learning for its junior-senior high school learning center.

"The senate funding helps provide targeted programs for students in our rurals," Senator Seward said. "It flows from the work of the Legislative Commission on Rural Resources, which has a specific mandate to develop policies and identify solutions to problems faced by rural communities."

Twenty seven innovative instructional projects were selected out of the 43 applications submitted by rural school districts. The maximum award for each project is $2,500, which must be matched by local contributions. The goal of the awards is to support enhanced educational opportunities for students and families in deserving rural schools.

The committee was created in 1990 and the grants are funded by the state senate in the current state budget.