BY DAN HILDEBRAN
Monitor Editor
KEYSTONE HEIGHTS—Clay County Public Schools Superintendent David Broskie followed up on an appearance by one of his students on a national talk show to highlight the district’s services to ESE students.
RideOut Elementary first-grader Rosie was a guest on The Kelly Clarkson Show on Dec. 1. The student appeared during a segment that explained Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. The literacy program provides one free book a month to children from birth to age five, and Rosie utilized the Imagination Library to become braille-literate from an early age.
The student’s mother, Liz Williams, opened the segment by telling Parton how the singer’s Imagination Library played a role in Rosie’s success as a reader. The first grader then joined Parton and Clarkson on stage and listened as the host sang “Amazing Grace” to her. Rosie returned the favor by singing “The Lion Sleeps Tonight.”
Imagination library available in OP
In November, school board member Mary Bolla appeared before the Orange Park Town Council to tell the council about the literacy program.
She said Delta Kappa Gamma, an organization of women educators, in conjunction with the Clay Education Foundation, is sponsoring the Dolly Parton Imagination Library in zip codes 32073 and 32043.
Bolla said a newborn in Orange Park would receive “The Little Engine that Could” and then receive an additional one book per month until they reached the age of five.
“By the time they are five, they get 60 books,” she said. “The final book is ‘Lookout Kindergarten, Here I Come.’”
Bolla said the Delta Kappa Gamma chapter supplied the seed money for the program, mainly through donations from retired teachers. The cost to the chapter for each child receiving the full complement of books is $125.
“We are seeking donations from a variety of clubs and organizations, and we will be doing that for many years to come,” she said. “Our ultimate goal is to cover all of Clay County.”
One-fourth of students are in ESE programs
Broskie said during the Dec. 8 school board meeting that he got emotional watching the talk show segment with his wife Sue, who works in the district’s ESE department.
“I thought to myself: Look at the difference that’s made in one person’s life, and that is the mission of Clay County schools,” he said.
The superintendent credited the student’s teacher Gina Woods for teaching Rosie braille.
Broskie added that Rosie underscores the diverse student population Clay County Public Schools serves.
“There’s no cookie-cutter approach,” he said. “The range of students is tremendous, and providing a high-quality education for all students, regardless of their disability and the expectation of learning for all students is what we strive to do.”
He said that 11,000 out of the district’s total 40,000 students are in ESE programs.
