Inuvik (Dec 17/04) - When you are a publicly-funded institution, it's sometimes difficult to fill in the financial gaps between the basic paper and pencils and some of the more expensive educational tools.

Just ask Susan Woolridge, Sir Alexander Mackenzie school's (SAMS) program support person, whose responsibilities include tracking down money to meet those needs.

"One of my goals was to find more money to continue the K to 6 reading initiative," she said Monday. "And I've been searching for funding for more than a year."

Enter Dowland Contracting Ltd., a company that recently finished the new Aurora College Campus. Dowland's Chief Financial Officer Patrick McGuinness joined Woolridge at SAMS on Monday to present her with $7,500 towards the school's reading program.

Earlier in the school year, Dowland pledged $7,500 towards Samuel Hearne secondary school's accelerated math program.

"We're committed to $15,000 between both schools," said McGuinness. "It's something that we wanted to do for a while."

Woolridge was hoping to raise $40,000 - the estimated cost of continuing the literacy initiative, which began at SAMS two years ago.

The Inuvik District Education Authority kicked in $20,000 and Petro Canada put in $5,000. With Dowland's latest contribution, Woolridge says the program can carry on, with some "wheedling down of the wish list."

"It's a great program," she said of the reading curriculum that includes teacher professional development. "It reaches a lot of students in a multi-levelled approach and that's good because there are many learning levels in each class."

Dowland offers more than financial contributions to local schools. Recently, SAMS shop room saw some upgrades, courtesy of one of the contracting company's carpenters.