Toys "R" Us gives Children's Education Law Clinic $25,000 gift
The Toys "R" Us Children's Fund sent the Children's Education Law Clinic a check for $25,000 to support the work it does representing children with learning disabilities who are experiencing reading problems in school. Duke Law alumnus Christopher Kay, '78, who is General Counsel and Executive Vice President for Operations, presented the gift to the Clinic.
"We were thrilled to get the gift from the Toys "R" Us Children's Fund," said Jane Wettach, Clinic Director. "As the initial start-up grant from The Duke Endowment expires, new gifts are vitally important to the Clinic's joint mission of training law students in practical lawyering skills and providing critically-needed legal advice and representation to at-risk and disabled children."
In requesting the grant, the Clinic shared several stories with the Toys "R" Us Children's Fund about children who the Clinic has represented. For example, seven-year-old Darrell's mother contacted the Clinic because she could not get the school to test her son to see if had a reading disability. She was convinced he did, because she could see that he wasn't learning to read like his classmates. Before coming to the Clinic, Darrell's mother obtained an evaluation at her own expense showing that her son indeed was affected by a learning disability. By the time the Clinic became involved, Darrell had missed nearly a year of special education services that could have addressed the reading problem. On behalf of Darrell's mother, the Clinic was able to negotiate for Darrell to receive 107 hours of one-on-one tutoring in reading as well as reimbursement for the private evaluation she had obtained. Darrell's reading vastly improved and he was able to stay up to par with his classmates the next school year.
The Toys "R" Us Children's Fund supports a variety of causes that focus on improving the lives of children.
For more information about the Children’s Education Clinic, please visit http://development.duke.edu/finalreport/seven.html and the Clinic website at http://www.law.duke.edu/childedlaw/.