LAFAYETTE, La. — Tools for Schools is back on the road once again, thanks to Jim Olivier's family of companies. Today, we delivered supplies to Ossun Elementary School.
"So here at Ossun Elementary, it's a very community-based school. Students, our gators, are safe, responsible and respectful," shares Andraya Boudreaux, who serves as a special education teacher specializing in low-incident cases. "My students are a huge part of my world. I give absolutely everything I have to my class, to my students, all day, every day."
She credits Miss Michelle Barras, the school's speech therapist, for nominating her for Tools for Schools, specifically for the much-needed colored ink.
Boudreaux emphasizes the importance of colored ink in her teaching approach, saying, "I have eight students and six of those students are nonverbal. So, visuals are a huge they play a huge role in my classroom. Everything is tied to a visual. And so, I print. And it's not just black and white visuals. Those students, my students need the color."
"We have communication boards that I print out every week for our stories, and that's how my students communicate and answer questions with a story that we're going over. I also teach two communication words a week. And so along with that communication word, we learn the sign language, that that symbol goes on my students’ devices if it's not already there."
Boudreaux recognizes the long-term benefits of these supplies for her students and their collective appreciation.
"We're printing out all of the letters and sounds and pictures that correspond with that to go on the word wall," she says. "I'm really, really thankful for that. My students are really thankful for that because it's going to help them in the long run. So I really appreciate that."
Tools for Schools is now accepting nominations. If you're a staff member of the school you'd like to nominate, enter now here. You could get up to $500 in supplies for your school.
