Operation Round Up grants were issued recently, and your spare change is doing great work in our communities! A total of 14 grants were issued this quarter.

Each quarter, we will continue recognizing all awardees, but we will also feature one recipient in greater detail.

For several years, Operation Round Up funds have been awarded to Van Rensselaer Elementary for their Brag Tag program. We talked with Principal Chad Wynn about the program. The Brag Tag program recognizes and rewards students for their academic accomplishments. Each student is given a necklace at the beginning of the year and can add their tags as they earn them. Making the honor roll, meeting goals, participating in academic teams, and more earn a tag. There are also tags recognizing good behavior, such as kindness.

Wynn stated that teachers often have areas in the classroom where students can display their Brag Tags. Some students wear their tags proudly; a fourth-grade student, Lincoln, worked hard in math and reading to achieve the 50 iReady lessons brag tag and wore it with pride because of his accomplishment. When staff saw him with it on, he received many congratulations, which made him proud.

Students proudly take their tags home to show their families at the end of each year. Wynn also shared, A fifth-grade student named Norah would always get 100 Accelerated Reader (AR) points in nine weeks, along with all other brag tags possible.

She kept all of them over the years as a representation of her accomplishments.

This is just one of the many ways Operation Round Up makes a difference in our communities. We look forward to sharing more with you in the future.

LEFT: One students collection of Brag Tags

RIGHT: Brag Tags are displayed proudly in a classroom.

IN JULY, FUNDS WERE GRANTED TO THE FOLLOWING ORGANIZATIONS:

• Angels Wrapped in Love
• The Connection Center
• Faith Lutheran Church -Swaddling Clothes
• General Van Rensselaer Chapter – National Society Daughters of the American Revolution
• GracePoint Resource Center
• Greater Rensselaer Chamber of Commerce
• Little Cousin Jasper Festival
• Rensselaer Central High School
• Rensselaer Central Primary School
• Town of Remington
• Van Rensselaer Intermediate School

If you are a member of an organization that would benefit from Operation Round Up funds, visit our website for the quarterly applications.