HOSTS Award

Grenada School District wins highest honors from HOSTS Learning
Grenada Elementary School was recognized recently as a national exemplary learning center for its efforts and quality assurance in serving low-performing students through mentoring and academic intervention. Participating in the festivities are, back row, l to r, Grenada School District Superintendent Dr. Buddy Pender, HOSTS Representative Kay Tanner, HOSTS founder and Chairman of the Board Bill Gibbons, Administrative Assistant Dr. Bettye Neely, Principal Dr. Randy Poss, and, front, HOSTS Coordinator Renee Geiger.

The HOSTS Learning (Help One Student To Succeed) Award is presented to high-performing learning intervention programs using HOSTSLink Language Arts Readiness. The award is based on HOSTS Learning's Quality Assurance Program that measures seven characteristics of an effective, structured mentoring program. Principal Dr. Randy Poss was the recipient of the Betty Scharff Memorial Award, the highest individual honor given by HOSTS learning.This national award targets those who excel in helping students to succeed through HOSTS. HOSTS Learning presents awards in memory of Betty Scharff, codeveloper of the HOSTSLink Language Arts and Math programs. Grenada Elementary School has used HOSTSLink Language Arts Readiness to help students accelerate their academic progress. During 2003-2004 school year, 71 students and 36 mentors participated in the school's HOSTSLink Language Arts Readiness program.

HOSTSLink from HOSTS Learning is an academic intervention system available in Language Arts, Readiness, Math, Spanish, and English Language Development. The learning system links student needs to individualized or "prescription-based" lesson plans ensuring success for both the mentor and student. HOSTSLink is tailored and aligned with local, state, and national academic standards. The benefit of using a HOSTS Learning system is to create a continuuous-progress model for all administrators, teachers, and students while containing internal program development costs and improving student achievement. Founded in 1971, HOSTS Learning has served more than one million students nationwide.