One Class at a Time: Ms. Carrie Roark at Betty M. Condra School

LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) - The Betty M. Condra School keeps growing. The school, intended to help children with dyslexia and other reading disorders, opened doors for it’s new downtown location at 14th and Ave O. Most recently, educator Carrie Roark, has earned the honor of this month’s “One Class at a Time” recipient.

“My favorite part is just being in relationship with these kids,” she said. “They’re my kids, and so getting to be part of their lives is really special.”

For superintendent and founder Merinda Condra, this award comes as no surprise.

“We were so excited. First of all that Miss Roark was selected, because she’s amazing. She’s an amazing teacher. She’s an amazing person, and then when she chose this school well, knowing Miss Roark, it makes sense,” Condra said. “She loves our kids, she loves this school.”

While the students are still enjoying the nuances of a new building, Roark and Condra both hope to see the innovation go beyond the classroom. The $500 donation is intended for new playground equipment.

“I care about my students, and we’ve got this new beautiful, exciting building that we just moved in,” Roark said, “and one of the the next things we need is a playground for these guys to be able to, to play and express some of the energy that they have to hold on to during class. It makes them better at reading, it makes them better at math, when they can get out and exercise and play, then their brains are operating at the executive level. It was my immediate thought I didn’t even have another idea.”

Condra agrees. With this recent donation, there will be less money needed for others costs such as maintenance.

“We just moved into this building and it took a lot of money to get it where it is, and it’s a beautiful building,” Condra said, “but there’s always unexpected expenses. We have a lovely area to be a playground, but we don’t yet have a playground. So, this $500 will go towards that playground and getting us some equipment.”

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