Left to Right, Fiona Bailey, TLC chair, Gail Carter, TLC treasurer, Earseye Ross, Secretary, Silver City Lodge,
and Tedd Walters, Silver City Lodge Rep.In conjunction with the upcoming Give Grandly campaign, the Silver City and Santa Rita Masonic Lodges recently donated $3,000 to The Learning Center for Dyslexia and Academic Success. The Learning Center (TLC) is a 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization sponsored by Grant County Lodges and raises money through donations to support three interrelated areas of focus that serve Grant County students, who are struggling readers or need interventions because they have dyslexia or other language-based problems.

The areas of focus are to:

• Train instructors in research-based methods proven to help students with dyslexia learn to read, write, and spell.
• Provide scholarships to students who need assistance to receive individual, small group, or summer program intensive specialized instruction.
• Provide parents and other community members with support and information about dyslexia and other language-based learning problems.

TLC provides scholarships for students with dyslexia to receive specialized reading instruction and provides scholarships for teachers to receive Take Flight training.

Take Flight is a specialized multi-sensory reading program developed by the Shriners Children's Hospital.

TLC currently has sponsored five Grant County teachers to become specialized reading instructors and those teachers are currently working with over 30 students who have varying degrees of reading problems. The students range in age from 6 to 16 years of age. For more information check out TLC's website at www.tlcfordyslexia.org

Masons (members of Freemasonry) helped build the first schools in Silver City, and has always been supportive of education. They are the initial starting point for all of the Masonic "Appendant Bodies", i.e. you have to be a Mason in good standing to belong to the Shriners, Knights Templar, Scottish Rite, and others, which make charity their primary effort. For additional information on this activity and others, or information regarding Masonic Lodges, please contact a Mason near you or call, Bob Baker at 575-538-8561.