DALTON, Ga. -- Two Whitfield County schools will use more than $100,000 from the Lowe's Charitable and Educational Foundation to create study centers for students and their families.
Educators from Southeast High School and Eastside Elementary who were involved in applying for the grants were recognized at a recent Whitfield County school board meeting.
Southeast High School will use its $100,000 grant to create the Raider Nation Literacy and Resource Center at the school.
The center will provide computers and Internet access to students and the community. Students will be able to use it during the school day, and volunteers will staff it at other times to allow parents and others to use the center.
Many students and families at Southeast do not have computers or Internet access, teachers said.
"The center will be a way to get the community and parents more involved in the school," Anne Childers told school board members. Childers and several other Southeast staff outlined the grant proposal to the board.
Eastside Elementary will use its $4,370 grant to get children out of school by creating a School2Go outdoor study area, counselor Jaime Calhoun said.
Calhoun said many children live in small or crowded homes and don't have adequate places to study. The study area will be built off Hill Road in the Eastside community.
Lowe's and the Lowe's Charitable and Educational Foundation together contributed more than $30 million in 2010 to support community and education projects in the United States, Canada and Mexico, according to a news release from Whitfield County Schools.