The Assistance League Links to Learning team got creative to help teachers meet unforeseen needs due to schools being closed for COVID-19. Chair Sandy Warner and her team contacted grant recipients to offer them flexibility in using their unspent funds as long as it was consistent with the mission of the program. The educators were grateful and good stewards of our funds. Here are a few of the ways they used their monies:

• A north Minneapolis media teacher repurposed her funds to buy digital books and audio books to help students stay connected to reading during the pandemic.

• A St. Paul kindergarten teacher used the $80 remaining from her grant to purchase stamps and stationery so she could write her students weekly.

• A Minneapolis Public School special education teacher purchased and pre-programmed Chromebooks for online learning for her students.

These educators and others were more than grateful for the flexibility and support our Links to Learning team provided them. Thanks to their hard work and follow through, the Assistance League Links to Learning team enabled educators to enhance their students’ education during this extraordinarily trying time. Assistance League Minneapolis/St. Paul Operation School Bell® Links to Learning program offers grants to educators in the Minneapolis Public School District, the Richfield School District, and the St. Paul Public Schools. These grants are used to fund enrichment projects outside the standard curriculum. During the 2019-2020 school year, Assistance League Minneapolis/St. Paul awarded $88,000 to fund 134 Operation School Bell® Links to Learning grants which will benefit over 20,736 students.