Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

IP Expected To Award Grants To Gurdon School District

Through the International Paper Company Foundation the Gurdon Wood Products Complex will award a total of $20,000 grants to the Gurdon School District for the 2000-2001 school year.

The grants are part of the IPCO Foundation's Education and Community Resources (EDCORE) program, which is offered to select school districts throughout the country in communities where a large number of company employees live and work.

School districts participating in EDCORE are eligible for grants in three categories: teacher fellowship, schoolwide redesign and technology.

This past year the Gurdon District received two teacher fellowship grants, one schoolwide redesign grant and one technology grant.

The following $1,000 teacher fellowships were awarded for the 2000-2001 school year: Pam Runyan, Gurdon Primary School, for S.M.I.L.E. (Students Making Improvements in Literacy Education); and to Jean Smithey, Cabe Middle School, for D.A.T.A. sessions (Doing Activities to Achieve).

The following $9,000 school-wide redesign was awarded for the 2000-2001 school year: Rita Roe, Gurdon Primary School, for "Reaching a Smart Start."

The following $9,000 technology grant was awarded for the 2000-2001 school year: Charles Failla and Sherri Karr, Gurdon Public Schools, for "Information Literacy and Library Technology Interface."

Since 1996, the Gurdon Public School district has received nearly $82,000 in educational grants from the International Paper Company Foundation.

"International Paper's EDCORE program has enabled our Gurdon team to establish a strong relationship with the Gurdon Public School district," Ron Freer, manager of the Gurdon Wood Products complex, said. "We are glad to have the opportunity to recognize the teachers in the Gurdon District for their creativity and commitment to education. As members of this community, and as parents of children who go to school here in Gurdon, it's great to see International Paper and our school system working closely together to support education."

IPCO Foundation will award 143 EDCORE grants totaling more than $485,000 for education projects throughout the country for the 2000-01 school year. Over the course of 40 years the IPCO Foundation has awarded in excess of $20 million in grants to schools in 20 states.

While the foundation provides financial support to various community, cultural and environmental programs its primary focus is education  especially secondary education. The foundation was founded in 1953 as philanthropic grant-making organization.

Gurdon Wood Products Complex, with 546 team members, is one of 41 U.S. sites in IP's Wood Products business within the company's Building Materials Group. The business includes 27 lumber mills, three oriented strand board plants, five plywood facilities, two pole plants, one laminated veneer mill and two distribution centers.

Through improved log recovery and enhanced productivity the business continues to increase its capacity and provide high quality lumber products. More than 6,000 employees are part of the Wood Products team.