Brunswick Elementary students (L-R, front row) Alexa Hooper, Riley Carroll, and Alessa Whited (2nd row) Vaughn Phillips, Justin Boyer, Alyssa Carter, Hannah Slagle, Haleigh Minnick with (3rd row) Principal Gerald DeGrange, Jean Stine, Community Foundation Trustee Mary Elizabeth Bowie, (back row) Media Specialist Cindy Doggett and Reading Specialist Karen Fitzpatrick

Community Foundation Fund Awards Grant To Brunswick Elementary's Accelerated Reader Program

December 19, 2007: Brunswick Elementary’s Accelerated Reader Program will now have additional books for students of all grade levels thanks to a recent $500 grant from The Alice Jean Stine Endowment Fund held by The Community Foundation of Frederick County.

Approximately 30 books will be purchased for the incentive-based program that assesses comprehension and increases vocabulary, said Brunswick Elementary’s Media Specialist Cindy Doggett. “Thanks to the Community Foundation’s grant and Mrs. Stine’s dedication to reading and learning, we will be able to expand the collection to include titles from a variety of reading levels so that all students at Brunswick Elementary will be able to use Accelerated Reader.”

Instrumental in writing the grant that won the $500 award was Reading Specialist Karen Fitzpatrick who said that Accelerated Reader is a wonderful incentive for children to increase their reading skills. “Accelerated Reader allows students to self select and read books, then answer computer-generated questions that make students think about what is really being asked, using text to locate answers. It challenges our students,” said Ms. Fitzpatrick.

Retired teacher Alice “Jean” Stine created The Alice Jean Stine Endowment Fund at the Community Foundation to benefit library programs in the Brunswick and Middletown areas of Frederick County. Although Mrs. Stine currently resides in Knoxville, she was raised in Brunswick and still considers it her hometown.

“I am happy to be able to help Brunswick Elementary School through the fund that I created,” says Mrs. Stine of her heartfelt connection to Brunswick, “not only because my family attended there, but because my aunt and mother taught there. Helping children to learn to read and to increase their love of reading is a very gratifying way to give back.”

Educational initiatives like Brunswick Elementary’s Accelerated Reader Program are one of the many needs identified by generous donors who turn to the guidance and expertise of The Community Foundation of Frederick County to fulfill their charitable dreams by creating funds that benefit a range of worthy causes. As a trusted philanthropic organization, the Community Foundation has provided more than $17 million in grants and scholarships throughout Frederick County since 1986.

Those who wish to support The Alice Jean Stine Endowment Fund may make a secure online donation. To do so, click here.  Donations by check may be made payable to The Community Foundation of Frederick County and mailed to 312 East Church Street, Frederick, Maryland 21701, with “The Alice Jean Stine Endowment Fund” inserted in the check’s memo line. All donations are tax deductible to the fullest extent of the law.