Manchester Township Elementary School and Ridgeway Elementary School are among 10 schools in Ocean County that were awarded $10,000 school media center/library grants from the OceanFirst Foundation.

Gary Casperson and Cathy Rollo of OceanFirst appeared at the October Manchester Township Board of Education meeting to formally present the award to the schools and the Board.  He told the Board they should be very proud that two out of the ten awards this year were presented to Manchester schools.

Gary Casperson and Cathy Rollo (right in photo) of the OceanFirst Foundation present $10,000 School Library Grants to (left to right) MTES Principal Dr. Frances Scudese and Librarian Mary Henderson, and Ridgeway Principal Dr. Janette Lada and Librarian Geri Szoke.

Mary Henderson, Media Center Specialist at MTES, submitted a grant titled “The 4Cs: Connection, Community, Collection, and Civics.”  She said that the primary focus of the grant is civic responsibility and a greater student awareness of patriotism, American history, and the workings of state and local government, or what used to be referred to as civics and citizenship education.  The grant will pay for books to support this effort, including biographies about people who have made a difference in the country and around the world.  In addition, grant funds will be used to purchase three new computers to provide additional resources for researching and exploring topics of responsible citizenship, history, politics, and government.

At Ridgeway Elementary School, Media Center Specialist Geri Szoke’s grant title was R.E.S.C.U.E. (Ridgeway Elementary School Cares for and Understands the Environment).  She said that each grade level from first through fifth grade would focus on different areas of the environment. First grade would learn about growth and development of plants and animals; second grade - insects and recycling; third grade - habitats (rainforest, desert, etc); fourth grade - ocean habitats; fifth grade - endangered species.  The grant money will be used for videos and CDs, a new LCD projector and laptop computer, and books, including fiction, reference, biographies on scientists who have an impact on environmental issues, and non-fiction on animals, insects, recycling, etc.

Casperson said that the OceanFirst Foundation has given away over $18 million in its ten years in existence, and has given about $1 million to local school libraries since the inception of the library grant program three years ago.