Many Wellington school children will get a leg up in reading and math thanks to a grant approved this week by the Wellington Village Council.
The Keely Spinelli Education Grant celebrates the life and hard work of an educator near and dear to our community. Each school will receive up to $25,000 to help students struggling with reading and math, something Spinelli dedicated her life to.
Not only is this a great benefit to Wellington, but honoring Spinelli’s memory with the grant couldn’t be more fitting.
Keely Spinelli was a longtime educator who touched the lives of children throughout the western communities. She taught in Royal Palm Beach and Loxahatchee Groves before becoming principal at Binks Forest Elementary School in Wellington.
Anyone who knew Spinelli could feel her positively radiant passion for helping students. In particular, Spinelli dedicated her life to helping those children who struggled the most with reading. Spinelli died in 2008 after a long battle with cancer, but her memory will forever live on through this grant, which, we hope, will aid countless generations of students.
As Councilwoman Anne Gerwig recalled, Spinelli’s walls were covered with pictures of students who had something to overcome. She kept their memories close to inspire her to keep going. Now, her memory will provide the means for other teachers to do the same.
This was truly a community effort, starting with Wellington’s Education Committee and Wellington staff, as well as all the educational and political leaders who came out to support the effort. We are glad to see Wellington bring this funding back to the schools after several years of harsh budget slashing.
At Tuesday night’s meeting, the excitement from the educational community that had come out to support the measure was palpable. It was inspiring to see a group of leaders who are so passionate about what they do. Wellington has some of the best schools in the county, and we can see why. Having this grant shows that our community is willing to go the extra mile to make sure every child gets the help they need to become educated citizens.
We couldn’t be prouder of Wellington for this initiative, and we hope this grant will continue to help children in need for many years to come.
