New Holland-Middletown School celebrates grant award from State Farm Insurance

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[May 23, 2013]  MIDDLETOWN -- Wednesday afternoon there was a large celebration going on at the New Holland-Middletown School. At 2 p.m. all the students of the school assembled in the gymnasium. They were joined by members of the NH-M Community Supports Education group, teachers from the school, Superintendent Todd Dugan, members of the Phyllis Jeanne Blaum family, and agents or representatives from the State Farm agencies in Logan County.

The event was to celebrate the presentation of a $25,000 grant from State Farm to the school.

State Farm Insurance agents Chris Coyne, Tracy Olson and Deron Powell, and representatives of Rick Hamm's office, Katie Young and Justin Cheger, were on hand to present the check to Mr. Dugan.

The event began with the superintendent welcoming everyone to the assembly. He thanked State Farm for the grant program that provided the money for school technology. He also recognized board of education members who had taken time from their day to be at the celebration.

He then addressed the students, telling them that he understood fully that they were excited about the new technology products the school would be getting. He mentioned iPads, laptops and Smartboards that would be purchased for use in the classroom. He told the students that some of the new equipment has already been ordered and should arrive at the school on Thursday.

"I can't wait to start playing with these," he said. "Just remember, these things are not substitutes for teachers. What they will do is help make good teachers, great teachers."

Dugan finished by saying: "I'd like to thank everyone again for coming. Thanks to State Farm. Thank you all for all you've done and continue to do for our kids on a daily basis."

Karen Davison of the New Holland-Middletown Supports Education group was the next person to speak. She talked about her attendance at the school, her father's attendance, and now her grandchildren attend.

"My new mantra is ‘Yikes!" she said, adding that in the past three months there have been so many "Yikes" times for her.

Davison explained that as a member of Facebook, she received a suggestion post from State Farm saying, "Could your nonprofit use $25,000?"

"I was like, ‘Heck yes, we can,'" Davison said.

She said the committee submitted a request to be included in the State Farm Neighborhood Assist grant program. After a few weeks, she received an email from State Farm telling them that out of 3,000 applications, the New Holland-Middletown project had been selected as one of the top 200.

From there, the work to get the final payday fell on members of the community. Of the 200 applications, the top 40 to get the most online votes would win the awards. Davison said the community group started getting the word out that everyone could go online and vote 10 times per day for New Holland-Middletown. As voting progressed, Davison said the last few days they watched the numbers between the competing projects rise and fall.

When the voting was done, Davison said they were advised that they would be notified of the final results in six days.

Davison laughed and said: "Do you know how long six days is to wait? That was an eternity. We got the email that said, ‘Congratulations. You are a top 40 winner,' and I tell you I screamed, ‘YIKES!'"

Davison also talked about the other communities NH-M was up against. Some of the projects submitted and in the running were from huge communities such as New York City and Los Angeles.

Davison said that over the 19 voting days, New Holland-Middletown received 47,928 votes.

"This is not because of me or because of anyone on our committee," Davison said. "It is because of everyone, it is because of our community, it is because of our friends, it is because of our family members; it's because we want our children to have the best education, the best tools and the best experiences they can possibly have. So, I thank all of you from the bottom of my heart for spending the time you have spent to make us so successful."

Davison spent a few minutes recognizing all the members of the community group. She also asked all the students who have helped with fundraisers and more to stand up and give a wave.

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Next to speak was Annie Coers. She thanked Davison for her commitment to the committee and then introduced the representatives from State Farm who were there to present the check. In addition, she noted that Jason Boice, a NH-M graduate and employee of State Farm corporate, was in the audience. She also acknowledged Erica Corely, who is a State Farm employee and the daughter of the NH-M technology coordinator, Lynn Corely.

Coers then presented the State Farm representatives with special gifts. The school had taken a group picture of all the students. The photos were matted and framed, and the students had signed the pictures on the matting.

Stacy Skelton took the microphone and read letters of congratulations from state Rep. Rich Brauer and U.S. Rep. Aaron Schock. Schock apologized for not being able to attend personally, but he promised that he would visit the school next year and talk to the students about the new technology equipment and how it has helped them in their education.

Deron Powell spoke on behalf of the local agencies, saying they were all very proud of the New Holland-Middletown School. He also mentioned the communities hurting in Oklahoma and said State Farm was there working to help those families.

He finished up by telling the school, students and committee not to stop applying for the grants from State Farm. He noted that Katie Young of Rick Hamm's office had said there is one school that has won two years in a row.

When the agents stood and presented the check to Dugan, the kids were elated. Loud applause, cheers and screams came from the bleachers as students expressed their appreciation in their own way.

In addition to the check from State Farm, another presentation was made to the school.

In the audience were family members of a former music teacher, the late Phyllis Blaum -- husband Jack, daughter Wendy Custis and granddaughter Courtney Vercler.

Custis stood and spoke about her mother. She said Blaum grew up in New Holland; she attended grade and high school in New Holland. When she graduated from college, she came back and taught at New Holland-Middletown.

"When she passed away a year ago, this community was so kind and honored her memory by giving generously to the Phyllis J. Blaum Music Scholarship fund that her family created," Custis said. "She always did her best to instill a lifelong love of music to all of her students, starting from the time they entered kindergarten."

Custis said that in deciding how to award the scholarship money this year, the family decided that it would be only fitting to give the first award to the music department at NH-M. She then presented the school with a check for $1,000. The money will be used for some new instruments for the elementary classes and for music software that will be available to the older students at the school.

When the check was handed over, the students once again showed their great appreciation with cheers, shouts and loud applause.

After the presentation, everyone was invited to move over to the cafeteria for refreshments and socializing.

With the $25,000 received Tuesday, plus a check for $30,000 presented on May 15 to the school by the New Holland-Middletown Supports Education community group, the school now has $55,000 to invest in technology programs for the school. The community group has set a goal of raising a total of $80,000 for this purpose.

[By NILA SMITH]

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