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Old Forge VFW Donations Benefit School District

OLD FORGE — A school district in Lackawanna County is getting financial help from a local veteran’s organization. In the past, the Old Forge VFW has...

OLD FORGE -- A school district in Lackawanna County is getting financial help from a local veteran's organization.

In the past, the Old Forge VFW has given money to the Old Forge School District for annual scholarships and the athletics program.

This latest donation will benefit students in the classroom and help enhance learning in two subjects.

More often than not, we hear about school districts finding themselves overwhelmed with budget problems.

Old Forge School District is one of those places, but thanks to a donation from the Old Forge VFW, the burden has been reduced by $20,000.

"This will help supplement us to get us through this school year on some of the textbooks that are older, that needed to be replaced, and to look at the software that is less expensive and this could actually fill in that gap where we never budgeted for that," said Old Forge High School Principal Chris Thomas.

Thomas tells us the money will be used to help the math and English departments.

"We are looking at software to enhance some of the reading that our kids have as we transition into the Common Core standards. For mathematics, we are looking into an entire new textbook series."

Wendy Cummings teaches math. She tells us with students using textbooks a decade old, the need for an upgrade is more important than ever.

"The new books then will mean new education, new materials coming through, and new ways of looking at things, different ways for us to be able to help them with the Common Core stuff that is out there."

The principal tells us this isn't the first time the VFW has donated money to the school. In the past, they have donated nearly $100,000 to athletic and other educational needs.

Michael Graham is the commander at Old Forge VFW. He tells us the donation didn't come without any guidelines. The money can only be used to help purchase materials and is not meant for the general fund.

"We wanted to do something for children and this is a good year to do it. Plus, with the state and their budget problems and the school district with their finances, we were trying to help put a little boost to the arm," said Graham.

The donation also means the district won't have to dip into next year's budget or rely on state money for the math and English materials.

The principal tells us new lesson materials will be implemented next year.

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