NATCHEZ &045;&045; Waste Management did not waste an opportunity to help out its community.

Through the Waste Management Charitable Contribution Foundation, Jim Funderburg, district manager for southwest Mississippi, applied for money to help out the company’s local Partner in Education &045;&045; Morgantown Elementary School.

The foundation sets aside money for community involvement every year. &uot;The adoptable program was the first thing I thought of,&uot; Funderburg said.

Waste Management, a Partner in Education with Morgantown since 1999, was awarded $5,000. Funderburg said only about eight awards were given and no other awards went to schools.

Funderburg wanted to help Morgantown and the school already wanted to do something to help with their math scores from last year’s test results.

&uot;We looked at our scores and that was what we were needing help in,&uot; Morgantown Principal Fred Marsalis said.

The school has used the money to buy manipulatives to help the students with math.

Examples are blocks to help with counting, geometric shapes and &uot;pie chart&uot; pieces to help students understand that a fraction is part of a whole thing.

The school purchased enough kits for every teacher, but the kits’ contents and the level for which they will be used vary. However, Marsalis said teachers mayexchange kits and ideas.

The purchase order is in, the school is now just waiting for the supplies to arrive.

The kits contain &uot;lots of things you can use with any lesson you are teaching…things you can show to the children in a concrete way,&uot; said Gay Hunt, Morgantown’s chairperson for Partners in Education and a fifth grade teacher.

Marsalis said he thinks having hands-on math teaching aids will help every student.

He said the school wants to implement them &uot;as much across the curriculum as possible.&uot;

The whole point, he said, is to improve the school’s math scores for next year.