ORANGE : Elementary School Wins $1,600 Award

A new program to encourage academic achievement recently brought Handy Elementary School a $1,600 grant from the California Educational Initiatives Fund. The school was one of 13 in the region to receive awards for innovative educational programs.

Under Handy’s new program, first- through sixth-graders don’t have to be straight-A students to earn a “varsity letter” in academics. Doing homework and reading extra books can earn them the 100 points they need to receive a Handy varsity letter--a red-and-white H--for academic achievement.

The first winners will receive their letters and a certificate of merit at a special assembly at the end of the school year. Students who continue to fulfill requirements will win a gold bar for each year, Principal Andrew Fisher said.

“Not everyone can throw a touchdown pass and not everyone can get all A’s, but everyone can read 50 books if they put their minds to it,” Fisher said.

The award is part of $780,000 to be distributed statewide this year by the California Educational Initiatives Fund. Awards for innovative programs were distributed to schools in Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties.