Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

By MICHELLE LOVE | Staff Writer

HELENA – The Helena City Council presented several teachers from the Helena school system with funds from the TAG (Teachers Assistance Grant) Team. The funds in total equaled $80,000.

The grant is funded from the One Cent Sales Tax Fund. Teachers were asked to submit requests for specific needs in their classrooms and explain the importance of each item and how it plays into bettering the education experience for the students.

Teachers from all of Helena’s schools from elementary to the high school were present, and Mayor Brian Puckett presented each teacher with a check with the appropriate amount of funds for their individual requests.

Councilmember Leigh Hulsey said the funds go directly to the teachers and they are allowed to spend it on their requested items.

Items included were smart panels for the elementary school, math subject kits, iPads and iPad cases, an adaptive swing set for special needs students, equipment for the wrestling teams at the middle school and high school, STEM supplies, updates to the baseball and softball field at the high school, laptops and laptop charging stations, and several teachers put in the request for TI calculators.

“We are so blessed in this community, and sometimes I don’t think we remember how blessed we really are,” Hulsey said at the end of the meeting. “I just want to thank all of the teachers, even your spouses, who probably put up with a whole lot of strange hours. It starts at the top. You create a culture that is positive and encouraging, and I want to thank you for the long hard hours you put into our kids.”

Puckett thanked members of the Shelby County Board of Education for their continued support of the Helena school system.

“From the bottom of our hearts, we thank you for what you’re doing for our city,” he said.