Saugus school lands grants

SAUGUS – With schools and communities alike scrambling for funding, the Veterans Memorial School has hit the lottery.Wheelabrator, through the Saugus Business Education Collaborative, granted the school $9,500 for technology. Vets School Principal Uri Harel said he was thrilled.”When they called to tell me, my heart stopped for like four seconds I was so excited,” he said.Harel said given the economic times the country is operating in he thought it remarkable that any business would step forward in such a huge way.Wheelabrator has given each school in the district a similar grant for the last five years. The Veterans School is the last to receive the grant.Wheelabrator is not the only local business to reach out to the school, however. Bisbee-Porcella Funeral Home also renewed a grant for the school to the tune of $2,600. That allowed the school to participate in a highly successful reading program, Accelerated Reader.The Accelerated Reader program uses a fair amount of printing which is where, Harel said, the two grants will merge. All students take part in the reading program, which requires them to take and print out quizzes on a regular basis. With nearly 700 students, Harel said that’s a lot of printing.”We have some definite priorities,” he said regarding the technology grant. “One of the first things we’ll do is add about eight more printers throughout the school.”Next, he said he would like to upgrade some of the personal computers in the classrooms that are outdated and, lastly, he plans to buy some Legos.Harel said he would like to use roughly $2,000 to pilot a Lego’s robotic program, Mindstorm, in the school.The program, he said, works with the computers and teaches students to design and create their own Lego robots that can do things like maneuver an obstacle course and hand someone a plate of cheese and crackers.”It teaches kids how to design their own technology,” he said. “It teaches them planning and programming and teamwork . . . such real life skills. It’s something I’ve wanted to do for years but haven’t had the money.”Harel said he hoped to pilot the program soon, perhaps as an enrichment class.However, he ultimately decides to spend the money, Harel said he planned to keep Wheelabrator in the loop.”We’ll take a picture and send them over,” he said. “We really want them to see how the money is being used. We want them to see the impact their money is making on our kids.”