U.S. Cellular gives County teachers a boost in the classroom

By Joseph Cyr
Staff Writer
    Teachers from several Southern Aroostook schools have received educational tools to help in their classrooms courtesy of a philanthropic program associated with U.S. Cellular.
    The classroom projects were funded through U.S. Cellular’s “Calling All Teachers” campaign. For a second year, the wireless carrier partnered with website “DonorsChoose.org” to fund $1 million nationally in “creative and impactful” classroom projects submitted by public school teachers.
    Local schools received more than $10,000 worth of equipment that will benefit more than 540 students in Frenchville, Hodgdon, Houlton, Presque Isle, and Washburn. More than 70 teachers throughout Maine had their projects fulfilled by U.S. Cellular’s Calling All Teacher’s Campaign totaling more than $41,000.
    In the Southern Aroostook area, the Mill Pond School in Hodgdon received a new LCD projector to make a mobile “Smart Board” classroom. The project was made possible by the work of Karen Sattler, after school coordinator and Title I education technician at the school.
    “This is the fourth project I have had funded through DonorsChoose and the third by US Cellular in particular,” Sattler said. “When the projector arrived, I was quite shocked, as it is one of the ‘elite’ home-theater type projectors.”
    The school has used the projector as a mobile Jeopardy board for math, a movie theater set up for its afterschool Christmas movie, and to project for classrooms a DVD to encourage participation in St. Jude Children’s Hospital’s Math-a-thon. 
    “Donors Choose and US Cellular have been very good to Mill Pond School,” Sattler said. “We even had one individual supply an outdoor storage shed because he and his wife spend their summers in Maine and he wanted to help some kids in Maine.”
    In addition, Sattler already has her sights set on the next DonorsChoose.org plan as she is seeking bean bag chairs for the after school program so that students have a comfortable place to read books.
    At Houlton Junior Senior High School, a new multimedia projector was made possible thanks to the program. The projector will provide students with virtual job shadows and college tours.
    At Houlton Southside School, fourth graders will use six headsets to share their stories with friends, families, and community.
    “Teachers play a big role in the future of our children,” said Eric Conlon, director of sales for U.S. Cellular in New England. “We are glad to support them because we know they work hard to make every child’s learning experience meaningful and fun.”
    Other County projects that received items include:
    • Fourth graders at Dr. Levesque Elementary School in Frenchville received digital cameras to be used for problem solving, artistic expression, capturing their findings, and making slide show presentations.
    • Two teachers at Pine Street Elementary School in Presque Isle had their projects granted including art supplies like finger paints, sand, molds, and paper Mache supplies; and CDs and books for kindergarten through second graders that focus on sounds, phonemic awareness, and word families to help enhance listening skills.
    • Washburn District Elementary School will receive an interactive white board to get students out of their seats and participating together in learning.
    Teachers across the country posted classroom projects that ranged from the basic to the technically advanced. Some asked for novels, bookshelves and calculators, while others requested LCD projectors, digital cameras and a TI Navigator system.
    “U.S. Cellular’s continued support of education is definitely making an impact in schools across the nation,” said Charles Best, founder and CEO of DonorsChoose.org. “The company’s donations from both last year and this year allow teachers to do more in the classroom, and our children reap the benefits.”
    DonorsChoose.org is an online charity that allows individual to browse projects schools would like to complete and donate money to help make those projects a reality. For more information, or to donate to projects, visit www.donorschoose.org.