Appreciation tea

Haymarket, Va. --- PACE West faculty, staff and administration appreciate their school's supporters, and that appreciation was demonstrated during a recent Appreciation Tea for the Haymarket Woman's Club, Dominion Women's Club, Gainesville-Haymarket Rotary Club and Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church.

At the event, group members enjoyed goodies and signed a formal agreement to partner officially with PACE, which runs a day program serving children K-12 with special, emotional and cognitive needs, in the upcoming years.

Kecia Wolf, a PACE teacher who has spearheaded efforts to form community partnerships, said, "I'm honored and blessed to be working with you all."

Over the years, Shepherd of the Hills regularly collected and donated food to PACE; the Haymarket Women's Club has worked on bingo, crafts and dance events; the Dominion Women's Club participated in a winter coat drive and gift card collection; and the Gainesville-Haymarket Rotary Club provided dictionaries, incentive prizes and school supplies.

Group members stressed however, that all the groups worked together to ensure these endeavors were successful. Infact, many members of these clubs are active in more than one of the organizations being recognized.

Ilma Striker is one such person. Striker is a member of both Shepherd of the Hills and the Haymarket Women's Club. When asked about her motivation for volunteering, she answered, "I just like to see the students' smiling faces."

Pastor Neal R. Davidson said his church focuses on priorities identified by the school. Rather than assuming, Davidson said, he asks what is needed and then the congregation tries to meet those needs.

Lisa Hill of the Dominion Women's club said their motto for helping PACE is "Bridging the Gap."

Melinda Long, Special Education Advisory Committee member representing the Gainesville district, has a son at PACE. She has seen first-hand how the efforts of these groups have helped, particularly through donations of toys and gift cards.

Long described what she called PACE's "very effective incentive program." She said it provides positive reinforcement for good behavior and students receive prizes and small gift cards when they demonstrate progress.

Long said these incentives are important to the students and that many of the students use the gift cards to purchase Christmas gifts for family members during the holiday season. She stressed the generosity of the students.

Theresa David, a teaching assistant at PACE, said, "In the beginning, there were misconceptions about PACE." When asked about the school's recent community partnerships, she said she was "thrilled these connections are being made. There is such a high need, and people are finally realizing it."

In her formal remarks, Principal Dr. Mary Ellen Garduno said the event was to "celebrate and thank [the organizations] for all they've done."

Katherine Gotthardt is a contributing writer to the News & Messenger.