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A grant in honor of a school board member was awarded to Fairview-Marguerite Elementary School.

A $4,000 Utrust grant was awarded to the school in honor of Roger Greene, a long term school board member who has served as a trustee on the Utrust Board since 1991.

“Libraries are essential to providing quality education for students in Hamblen County,” Greene said. “It is my pleasure to be in a position to help provide additional library books for the students and staff at Fairview-Marguerite Elementary School. I’m happy to do whatever I can do to strengthen our schools in Hamblen County.”

The grant was chosen to go to Fairview to replace books in the library that were sent home with students during the pandemic, but didn’t come back.

“We really needed this donation because when we had COVID, we checked out books and when we got back most people didn’t bring their books back,” a student wrote Greene. “We mostly have old and ripped book and we don’t have graphic novel books.”

When asked what books the kids would want added to the library, they mentioned Harry Potter, Goosebumps and Captain Underpants.

One student mentioned how the donation would help other students learn to read.

“Some of the books can help the little kids to read better,” they said. “Some of the kids have troubling reading so we can put graphic novels in there to help them.”

School Principal Eric Langhans described the school’s focus on literacy and how the grant will help their focus.

“We believe that having a strong literacy focus is one of the most effective ways we can help students be successful in being college and career ready,” said Langhans. “It is also important to establish a love for reading at the earliest age possible.”

“We are extremely grateful to Utrust and especially to Mr. Greene for providing these much needed funds to replenish our library and give our students access to more quality reading materials.”

Dr. Dan Tollett, Utrust administrator, praised Greene and his dedication to the organization.

“Roger Greene has been a tremendous member of the Utrust Board for 30 years. He is one of two trustees who represent East Tennessee on the Utrust Board,” Tollett said. “He has helped to implement and oversee a number of excellent programs which have made a great difference in schools across Tennessee. We are delighted to be able to fund this mini grant as a token of our appreciation to him.”

Utrust is an organization that assists school systems in Tennessee with unemployment issues and in recognizing, supporting and appreciating school employees. It sponsors the Utrust Appreciation Program, a student leadership program that seeks to help students recognize and express appreciation to people who make their lives better each day.