Luther Brookdale Honda of the Greater Twin Cities Honda Dealers Donate $10,000 to Local School

BROOKLYN PARK, Minn. - Dec. 13, 2018 - PRLog -- Luther Brookdale Honda of the Greater Twin Cities Honda Dealers Association (GTCHDA) donated $10,000 to Fair Oaks Elementary in a check presentation ceremony on Dec. 7. The donation is a part of the association's "Life is Better Thanks to the Greater Twin Cities Honda Dealers" campaign, which allows each Honda dealership within the association to donate funds to one or two schools within their communities. Through the campaign, now in its second year, GTCHDA has donated a total of $60,000 to local area schools. The Fair Oaks Elementary School check presentation ceremony was filmed and will air on KMSP.

"I know this is a community in need and I think we can get a partnership going between Fair Oaks and Luther Brookdale Honda," said Jim Haertzen, general manager of Luther Brookdale Honda. "There are a lot of schools in the area that need our help, but we've got a lot of special people here doing special things," he continued. Haertzen, a former student of Fair Oaks Elementary, said "We enjoy giving back to the community, and because I went here so many years ago I thought of Fair Oaks. It was natural for me to come to Fair Oaks."

Phillip Sadler, principal of Fair Oaks Elementary, was blown away when he learned of the generous donation. Part of the money will be used for the school's assisted meal program, and to help underprivileged students and families by giving them opportunities that they may not get otherwise. "We know that some of our students live in the worst poverty," said Sadler. "In terms of this donation, we offer our students and their families literacy nights. We know the importance of reading books."

Fair Oaks Elementary is a unique school that seeks to treat the causes of behavioral problems, rather than punishing the child for acting out. "It used to be that when a child got in trouble, the principal would talk in a big strong voice and reprimand the child," said Sadler. "That has changed 360 here at Fair Oaks and a lot of other schools. We aren't going to get mad at them or give them detention. We want to give them the tools to cope and be successful."

Brian Thul, the school's behavioral intervention specialist, explained further "[The] biggest thing for us at Fair Oaks is we want to provide students with what they need to be successful. We all went to school with kids that had a lot of energy, maybe got in trouble for that. [We] want to teach them how to release that energy so they aren't driving the teacher crazy [and] disrupting other students. We try to give them that space, so they can decompress and get back to learning."

About the Greater Twin Cities Honda Dealers:
The Greater Twin Cities Honda Dealers Association consists of eight Honda dealers serving the greater Twin Cities area, which include Buerkle Honda, Inver Grove Honda, Luther Brookdale Honda, Luther Honda of St. Cloud, Luther Hopkins Honda, Mills Honda, Richfield Bloomington Honda, and Walser Honda. For more information, please visit https://www.GreaterTwinCitiesHondaDealers.com (http://www.greatertwincitieshondadealers.com).