Schools receive writing reward

MINERAL RIDGE -- Mineral Ridge High School will receive $20,000 in merchandise awards from Samsung and Microsoft because of the writing talent of a local educator, school Principal Lew Lowery said.
Lorene Pfahler, special education supervisor at Trumbull County Educational Service Center, who works in the district two days a week, wrote an essay for the national Hope For Education contest sponsored by Samsung last spring.
The district received notice earlier this month that Pfahler was one of 250 first prize winners who would receive a $10,000 award in merchandise from Samsung and a $10,000 award in merchandise from Microsoft. She designated Weathersfield schools as the recipient of the merchandise.
Pfahler spends one day week at the high school and another day at the Middle School or Seaborn Elementary. She helps the district identify special needs children such as those who have learning disabilities or are behaviorally disabled, Lowery said.
"Our district really owes Lorene a debt of gratitude. She didn't have to do this for our school," he said.
The school district ordered the merchandise last week, including Microsoft software packages for several different subject areas.
The Samsung equipment ordered includes 21 LCD monitors for the high school computer lab, DVD players for some classrooms, and two video cameras to be used in the media center.