Supporting the Youth of Medina
Passionate about their craft and their kids, teachers are always on the look-out for ways to improve and engage student learning. Whether it’s a new tool, new books for the library, or even a program expansion—setting their students up for success is a mission they’re deeply committed to.
So, when four educators from Medina Public School heard wind of the Wishing Well they all paid a visit to the Choice Bank location in Medina, ND. There they handwrote their wishes, each with a different vision on how they wanted to help their students and dropped them into the well.
Winter passed and spring was just starting to show its head when Karen Schlecht, Senior Client Services Specialist, made a call to Tara Hofman, principal of Medina Public School.
“Is this Tara?” Karen asked. “Back in the fall you and several other teachers submitted wishes through our Wishing Well program. We couldn’t choose just one, so we’ve decided to grant them all!”
Together, Karen and Tara decided on a date they could surprise the other teachers at school.
First stop—Mrs. Schlecht’s fifth-grade classroom.
As part of a joint wish with Tara, Mrs. Schlecht had asked for snap circuits that could be added to the school’s STEM library to teach students more about electronics, engineering, science, and technology.
Coincidentally, Mrs. Schlecht and her class were just starting to prepare for a science lesson when Karen and Gerald Horner, Location President of Choice Bank’s Medina location, stopped in. Surrounded by the students that drive her passion, Mrs. Schlecht was presented with a $400 check to go towards purchasing multiple snap circuit sets to support many more science lessons to come.
But the wish granting didn’t end there.
Nearby, Kim Hoffmann was in the middle of working one-on-one with a small group of students when Karen and Gerald dropped by with a $350 check that would help expand and update the school’s Reading Counts program.
Reading Counts is an independent reading program that raises reading achievement and is intended to help encourage struggling readers by getting them excited to read books at their level. In her wish, Kim explained that by updating the program not only would the school receive free updates for years to come, but students would gain access to thousands of more books including the latest, most popular titles. By giving more options for her students to choose books that interest them, her hope is that they will be more excited about reading and will get others more excited about reading too.
Not quite done with their excitement for reading, Karen and Gerald made one last stop to find English teacher, Mrs. Heupel.
Mrs. Heupel helps manage both the elementary and high school libraries. Wanting to freshen up the library selection a little bit, she asked for more funds to buy new books as part of her wish. Happy to oblige, Karen and Gerald presented her with a $225 check to get some new books for students to check out and get excited about.
Their wish granting spree at a close, Karen and Gerald had one last hoorah in the gym with the four educators they had spent the afternoon visiting. Tara, Kim, Mrs. Schlecht, and Mrs. Heupel squeezed in on the bleachers for a group picture before returning back to their classrooms and the students who fuel their passion.