The Live Like Mel Foundation awarded its inaugural Educator Grants to three of Melanie’s colleagues in May 2019. The Foundation is passionate to recognize both future and current educators and felt the inaugural grants were a perfect fit for Melanie’s colleagues. It is the hope of the Foundation to provide resources for educators which will empower their students towards greater growth in their classrooms, something Melanie had a passion for during her 28.5 year tenure at Montpelier Schools in Montpelier, Ohio.

Mrs. Kacie Dickinson, current second grade teacher at Montpelier Schools, was one of three grant winners last year and has used a large portion of the awarded grant funding to improve her student’s reading abilities throughout the 2019-2020 school year.

Mrs. Dickinson funded a project that she calls “Book Clubs.”  Book Clubs is a program that allows students to read chapter books at their respective reading level and also promotes reading activities with other students at the same reading levels.

Mrs. Dickinson purchased sets of chapter books at multiple levels and also purchased a book outlining how to begin this program in the classroom to educate herself. She has already seen the payoff for the investment she made into her student’s education.

The students have enjoyed being able to read and share books with their peers as well as complete learning assignments for each chapter they read.

“I like book clubs because we get to work together to figure out what happens in books,” said Jayce, one of Mrs. Dickinson’s students.

Mrs. Dickinson is thinking outside of the box with this program to find ways to uplift the level of education of not only her own students, but also students in different grade levels. To do this, she invited students in the grade below (first grade) who are reading at higher levels to join her classroom during Book Club days to take part in the program. As one of the many benefits, students have already begun forming social bonds with each other across grade levels through the thought leadership of Mrs. Dickinson.

Mrs. Dickinson had this to say about the grant funding:

“The students love working with each other and learning from one another and I feel that the Book Clubs have really allowed that. I love that with the help of this grant I have been able to purchase supplies for my classroom to get this started, that I otherwise could not have purchased.  The students have really been able to grow in their reading and reading comprehension skills, which is very important.  I feel that this also helps them with their social skills as well.”

We are proud and honored for Mrs. Dickinson to be one of our 2019 Live Like Mel Educator Grant winners. On behalf of the Live Like Mel Foundation, we want to thank Mrs. Kacie Dickinson for her creativity and passion to make such a huge impact on not only her own students, but also on others within her school building who potentially may be students of hers next year.

Incremental programs like these are pivotal to building children’s overall knowledge and intangible communication skills. But it is educators like Mrs. Dickinson who are key influencers enacting and delivering this vital education to our future leaders every day during the school year.

NOTE: Photos courtesy of Mrs. Kacie Dickinson.

About The Live Like Mel Foundation

The Live Like Mel Foundation is a non-profit organization that continues the legacy of former Ohio educator, Melanie B. Sutter, who passed away on February 2019, from glioblastoma brain cancer. The purpose of The Live Like Mel Foundation is twofold: 1) to support the field of education by recognizing and providing financial assistance to future and current educators and 2) to support individuals and families impacted by glioblastoma by providing educational information and resources.