Chelsey Smith latest HTT winner

Chelsey Smith, kindergarten teacher at Cloudland Elementary School, is the latest Northeast Community Credit Union Helping Teachers Teach grant winner.

Smith applied for the grant to purchase supplies to create a books, shelves and comfortable seating to create a reading corner for her classroom. Smith has been teaching for nine years, previously teaching fourth through sixth-grade math. This is Smith’s first year as a kindergarten teacher, and she needs the necessary supplies to create learning areas for her students.

“Students would have a fun place to go read in the classroom instead of at their desk,” Smith said. “I can still remember the reading nook my kindergarten teacher had, and how much fun it was to grab a book and read it with a friend. If I can instill a love of reading in my students early, they will want to read more and more. This will help them so much in all learning experiences and subjects.”

Northeast Community Credit Union awards $300 every month to a classroom to be utilized for classroom needs, classroom activities, and academic enrichment. Helping Teachers Teach is open to teachers within Carter, Johnson, Unicoi, Sullivan and Washington counties who are members of Northeast Community Credit Union. Area teachers may become members online or at any NCCU location and can download the grant application on the credit union’s website: www.BeMyCU.org.