Dear Members of the Denver Bar Association,

My name is Jim Hodges and I am a teacher at Greenlee Elementary School in the Denver Public Schools. I am also the liaison teacher working with John Castellano for an after-school tutoring program called Lincoln Park Scholars.

John Castellano

The reason I am writing, is to thank your members and Chris Little for giving us a donation of $500 for the program. I want you all to understand how your donation has helped and was used for Lincoln Park Scholars students.

A little history about the Lincoln Park Scholars might help you understand the importance and appreciation of your donation. The program has been in full swing for about eight years with different teachers running the program. John Castellano helps make all the parts come together and run smoothly. Mr. Castellano is a major part of why Lincoln Park Scholars is successful and helps the students at Greenlee Elementary.

Chris Little

The program has about 30-35 students and 30-35 tutors each year. The students range in grade from first to fifth, and their reading level ranges from primer, or pre-first grade, to about third grade. Other areas that the tutors work on with the students is writing and math skills. Last year, due to some Spanish-speaking tutors, we had three students that were Spanish-speaking only.

Greenlee Elementary has many students that are just arriving from Mexico and don't speak or read any English. Thanks to your donation, our library at Lincoln Park Scholars went from three books in Spanish to about 50.

As you can see with the invoices I have sent you, our library is full of a variety of reading materials that each one of the students in the program can enjoy and learn from. I was also able to buy math supplies to aid in the students' math skills.

Lincoln Park Scholars receives no funding from Denver Public Schools to operate with, so your donation has created a great chance for us to provide learning materials at each student's individual reading and math levels.

Thanks to the bar association members, Lincoln Park Scholars will be starting off with quality reading and math materials for all the students involved.

Thank you ALL for your concern and caring for students.

Your gift will not be forgotten!

Sincerely,
Jim Hodges

For more information about the Lincoln Park Scholars Program, call John Castellano at (303) 295-8175 or Community Concerns Committee Chair Laura Embleton at (303) 824-5369.