‘Meet your teacher’ at West Homer
West Homer Elementary School will have ‘Meet Your Teacher’ orientation from 2-3 p.m. Friday. Class lists will be posted shortly before 2 p.m. in the windows to the left of the school entrance.
School supply donations being accepted
Delta Kappa Gamma is accepting donations to help provide school supplies for students in grades K-12. Items most needed include:
• Backpacks for all ages, neutral
colors best;
• Pink hand-held erasers;
• Two-inch, three-ring binders (Trapper Keepers, binders with zippers, are used by students in grades 6-12);
• Highlighters;
• Dry erase markers;
• Big glue sticks;
• File boxes for 3-by-5-inch index cards.
A receptacle for leaving donated items can be found at
Ulmer’s Drug and Hardware. Receptacles also have been placed at Homer United Methodist Church, Glacierview Baptist Church, Christian Community Church and Faith Lutheran Church.
Backpacks with school supplies are being assembled at West Homer Elementary School beginning at 3 p.m. Friday. Volunteers are welcome, said spokesperson Karen Murdock.
Donations will continue to be collected through the month of August for late-arriving families.
This is the eighth year Delta Kappa Gamma has collected school supplies that are distributed to about 100 students each year, according to Murdock.
Organizations helping with the effort include the Lions Club, Kachemak Bay Homer Rotary Club, Downtown Rotary Club, Emblem Club and Homer Community Food Pantry. Three generous cash donations also have helped with this year’s effort.
Murdock expressed thanks to Save U More for the discount on backpacks purchased at that store and to Ulmer’s Drug and Hardware for providing space for the donation receptacle.
Best Beginnings Homer receives grant
Alaska’s Best Beginnings, a public-private partnership focused on ensuring all Alaska children begin school ready to succeed, has awarded Best Beginnings Homer a $45,000 grant to support early childhood education in the Homer area for the 2015 fiscal year.
Best Beginnings Homer is a coalition of local nonprofit agencies and individuals who support early childhood education. Goals and work groups this year include:
• Language and literacy programs, presentations and resources, with work group chair Ann Dixon, director of the Homer Public Library;
• Parent engagement and education programs, including parenting classes, home visiting programs and early childhood education presentations and training, with work group chair Jenny Fonkert, parent;
• Community support and awareness-raising through Week of the Young Child events, community cafes, Early Childhood Wellness Fair, legislative information and collaboration with the local MAPP Coalition, with work group chair Margaret Wisner, director of The Center/Children’s Program;
• Early learning play spaces to support positive, safe and age-appropriate play spaces for young children in both indoor and outdoor locations in the Homer area, with focus on improvements for Bayview Park, with work group chair Kate Crowley, parent;
• Business and economic development related to early childhood education, supporting local childcare businesses and addressing the economic impact of early childhood education in the local community, with work group chair Hanna Young of Homer Head Start.
For more information about Best Beginnings Homer and the projects being targeted this year, visit pop411.org or mappofskp.net.
Volunteers in all areas are welcome.
For more information about Alaska Best Beginnings, visit bestbeginnings alaska.org.
