International Paper-Chapman awarded McKenzie School $10,000 to improve its library and enrich literacy.

IP representatives Kristy Brown, Grant Brown and Mike Griggs presented the check to McKenzie Media Specialist Laura Shell, Principal Randy Williams and Superintendent Mike Reed in a recent ceremony at the school.

The grant is part of an annual community service project conducted by the IP Corporation to aid community schools in need.

&uot;The grant is initiated by the schools filling out our application and sending it in to us,&uot; said Kristy Brown, IP’s Human Resources Manager.

&uot;The application is then reviewed by a committee here at the Chapman plant. The approved application is then sent to our Stanford, Conn., office, the check is cut.&uot;

&uot;We have given this grant to other county schools in the past few years,&uot; said Brown.

&uot;Last year, we gave $10,000 to R.L. Austin Elementary School in Georgiana and the year before that we gave $15,000 to the Greenville High School library.&uot;

She said the grant program was just one of the many service programs IP has for community support.

&uot;We just appreciate being a part of this community, and want them to know we’re here to support them,&uot; she said.

Shell said the money went a long way in updating the school’s library.

&uot;It means a tremendous upgrading of our library,&uot; she said.

&uot;We had some books that had copyrights from the 1960s and that just isn’t good for our students who need to do research. This large of a grant allows us to replace a lot of ragged books.

Especially at this time when we are not getting any library enhancement funds.&uot;

Williams also expressed his happiness over the grant award.

&uot;We were extremely pleased that we were chosen for this grant,&uot; he said. &uot;Laura Shell did all the legwork for getting the grant completed and in on time.

Miss Shell needs to get all the credit for this.&uot;

Shell said she placed an order for $10,006 in books and CD-ROMs. The library uses the Accelerated Reader program where students read a book and then take a quiz. This quiz ranks the students’ reading level. Shell said books were ordered for all reading levels from kindergarten to the 11th grade.

&uot;We have a small library and this is really going to make a difference for McKenzie,&uot; Williams said. &uot;This is definitely a big one for us.

We were just tickled to death. I don’t know of any way that we could have bought this many books.

We look forward to a big boost in our reading program.&uot;

Kristy Brown encourages any county schools to apply for the grant, which is given out once a year. The application deadline is August 1. For more information, contact Kristy at 376-2241.