REINVESTING IN EDUCATION — Hank Bruining, Human Resources manager for Dollar General of South Boston, presented Superintendent of Schools Paul Stapleton with a mock check representing Dollar General's donation to all of Halifax County's elementary schools for the next three years.
Shown accepting the check are Joe Griles, Supervisor of Secondary
Education, Linda Owen, Supervisor of Elementary Education, Stapleton,
Bruining. Clay Smith, Nikki Stinespring, Pam Taylor, all of Dollar
General, and Deputy Superintendent of Schools Larry Clark. (SOMcL
photo)

Dollar General announced a gift of over $50,000 Friday morning to the
Halifax County Public Schools. Hank Bruining, Human Resources Manager
for the local Dollar General Company, presented School Superintendent
Paul Stapleton with a mock check for $50,000, demonstrating his
company's gift to the seven elementary schools in the County.
Noting that the company's founder, Mr. J. L. Turner, never had the
opportunity to go further than the third grade, Bruining said the
literary effort is his company's charity of choice.
"It's a rare commitment," said Stapleton, "to have a company reinvest
in our children like this, helping to motivate them and to make their 
dreams come true." Pointing out the importance of each child having
his/her very own books, Stapleton sad it has also helped to improve the
reading scores at schools where Dollar General had earlier given books.
The company began the program three years ago, giving three books to
each student in each of the six schools it had chosen to support for
three years. But this year the program has been expanded to cover all
the county elementary schools and each student will receive three free
books each for the three years.
The children get to chose their books themselves from a large
assortment. "Their teacher may want them to chose a certain one," said
Linda Owen, Supervisor of Elementary Education, "but they get to pick
the ones they want."
Audrey Davidson, Executive Director of the Halifax County Public
Schools Education Foundation, pointed out what a difference the earlier
book donation had made in the reading skills of those children who
received the books. "We tested the children in the third grade and then
those same children in grade five and found a 15 percent improvement on
those tests. They scored 68 percent in the third grade and 83 pcercent
on reading tests in the fifth grade," she said. Several of the
principals of the elementary schools told how much their students had
appreciated the books they had been given. "Their eyes just lit up when
they realized they could have the books to take home with them and
keep," said Sinai Principal Mike Wilborne, whose school has been
heavily supported by Dollar General over the past several years.
Dollar General's donation is part of a three year national partnership
with Reading is Fundamental (RIF) to provide books to children in nine
states where the company has distribution centers and corporate
offices. The company believes that placing books in the homes of
children will help encourage them at a young age to love reading.
Reading is Fundamental is the nation's oldest and largest children's
literacy organization. It is a motivational program to get children
excited about reading and creating a lifelong love of reading. Halifax
County elementary schools have been participating in the program for
many years, awarding prizes to top readers in each school and
celebrating special events to highlight its importance.