Retired teacher wins Making a Difference award

Williamsport, Ind. (WLFI) - News 18 and Frontier Communications team up each month to honor people who are "Making A Difference" in the community.

December represents a season of giving. This month's winner does that each and every day.

Wilma Shackleton knows the importance of reading.

As an educator she's seen firsthand the difference it makes in the lives of youngsters.

"I'm just happy to be able to contribute in a very small way," she said.

"Her commitment to literacy is just unbelievable. Not only being a teacher, she's the president of her Monday afternoon club which is a literacy group here locally. And we the past couple of years have been working on the book bag project and her dedication to the dictionary project," said nominator Kathleen Poston.

Thousands of books and dictionaries over the past couple of years have gone into the hands of children.

"It's wonderful to see a child get their own book. And teachers know that they're coming so they have programs that are ready to go for when the dictionaries arrive," Shackleton adds.

We salute Wilma Shackleton as our Making A Difference winner for the month of December. Her actions help our children become the best they can be.

"Students are and children are the future. And if we want to leave it in good hands, we need to help them define keys to get there. Reading will take them there," said Shackleton.