Yakima Council

Letter from Terrace Heights Elementrary School

Terrace Heights Elementary School
4300 Maple Court
Yakima, Washington 98901-1303
(509) 573-7800
4/7/2009

“To empower and inspire all in the pursuit of excellence”

Please allow me to introduce myself. I am Bob Adamson, principal at Terrace Heights Elementary School in the East Valley School District just outside of Yakima.

Several years ago I was fortunate enough to have some wonderful people show up at our school. They introduced themselves as Qwest Pioneers and told me they wanted to give all of our 3rd graders a free dictionary. Well, I couldn’t turn down such a wonderful opportunity for our kids, and right there started a friendship that has lasted over the years. Every year our friends from Qwest Pioneers fill our third grade classes with warm and friendly cheer and with that continue to give all of our kids a free dictionary.

Three years ago they came to our school and to our surprise presented us with a $1500 grant that we used to purchase much needed writing material call Handwriting without Tears. At the time, we were only able to afford some of the materials for our kindergarteners, so their generous gift allowed us to buy materials for our kindergarteners, first, and second graders as well. What a nice surprise! Our teachers were delighted and so very appreciative of the $1500 grant. Today we continue to use Handwriting without Tears in our classes, and it wouldn’t be possible had it not been for our friends at Qwest Pioneers.

This year, on top of the annual gift of dictionaries for our third graders, our friends from Qwest Pioneers donated $500 in guided reader books for struggling readers in 1st – 4th grades. Wow!!! What awesome books! I especially like the Thomas the Tank Engine story. The kids love books like that! We will use these books for our Title I struggling readers. We’ll organize them and put them in our book room for everyone to have access too. Everyone on our staff uses the book room every day, so the books will get a lot of use.

In closing, it is important for you to know the tremendous impact these wonderful people have on the lives of our students. There’s an old saying that goes like this, “It takes a whole village to raise a child”, and this is true in our little community. The Qwest Pioneers in our community have enriched the lives of our kids with dictionaries, writing materials, guided readers, and warm, friendly smiles that will last them a lifetime. It is difficult for me to describe how much they all mean to us at Terrace Heights Elementary, only to say they are our heroes. It’s people like the Qwest Pioneers that make our world a better place.

Thank you for the day someone hired people like Anita, Sandy, Annette, Johnny, and others just like them many years ago, so they can do the important work they do today for kids.

Sincerely,

Robert W. Adamson

Dictionaries

Yakima Pioneers continue to distribute Dictionaries. A surprise was Bob Adamson, principal of Terrace Heights School, wearing his Pioneer hat.
We have now distributed over 1000 dictionaries.

Rest Area

Our 2009 Father's Day weekend rest stop event is coming up fast. Contact Anita to volunteer or to donate cookies.

Luncheon

Don't forget our luncheons on the third Wednesday of each month. Mark your calendars now.

Thanks, Anita