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For the second year in a row, students of the Harris County School District (HCSD) are the benefactors of the Cascade Hills Church outreach program.

New Mountain Hill Elementary, Park Elementary, and Pine Ridge Elementary – and their respective student bodies – were all beneficiaries of this year’s Cascade Hills Church LoveWorks community outreach campaign. Acknowledging the extra difficulties in starting a new school year during COVID-19, the church sent volunteer teams to assist the school with preparations such as moving furniture to increase spacing, assembling picnic tables for outdoor lunches, and conducting maintenance of outdoor classroom areas including of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics) gardens.

As part of the 2019 LoveWorks campaign, the church members learned there was a need at Park Elementary for a swing for wheelchair bound students. They quickly raised the funds to fulfill that need. This year they inquired if there was anything needed to help students. The district serves a growing visually impaired population. A braille embosser, or braille printer, would allow the visually impaired instructor to more efficiently convert printed text to braille for visually impaired students.

When a church member, who now works as an attorney but as a child was a visually impaired student, learned of the need for a braille embosser, he offered to sponsor its purchase. Pastor Brent Purvis and his wife, Carrie, presented the District’s Superintendent Roger Couch and Special Education Director Phillip Johnson with the braille embosser on Thursday, August 6, 2020.

Johnson shared, “Hand translation of printed text to braille takes a lot of time. Specialized equipment is sometimes necessary for providing specially designed instruction. This modern equipment will allow our teachers to focus on innovative instructional practices instead of spending time converting word documents. We are grateful for the donation. It will make a difference.” The embosser will be used to support all visually impaired students across the district.