CHILLICOTHE — A $25,000 grant will fund a fine motor skills program for Chillicothe preschool students for a second consecutive year, the school board heard in a presentation on Tuesday, October 27, South Ohio News reported.
The grant, funded by the Ohio Children’s Foundation in Columbus, covers occupational therapy services and supplies for preschool students, South Ohio News reported. Sarah Hawthorne presented the program to the board, and the program runs in partnership with Occupational Therapy Works and occupational therapist Chris Meyers, according to South Ohio News.
“This program is pretty groundbreaking, if I can say so myself,” Hawthorne told the board, according to South Ohio News. Asked whether the district must provide matching funds, Meyers told the board, according to South Ohio News, that the grant covers a straight $25,000 for the therapy services and supplies, and that leftover funds from the previous year were used to send fine motor activity packets home with children over the summer.
Emily Atkins, who runs the fine motor groups in preschool, said her lessons are tied closely to classroom teachers’ plans to promote carryover for students, South Ohio News reported. Meyers told the board, according to South Ohio News, that the program has reduced unnecessary special-education referrals. “There were a lot of students that actually did not qualify because of these interventions,” Meyers said, according to South Ohio News, adding that the district also saw fewer referrals at the end of the school year compared with previous years.
Fine motor work in preschool — the small hand and finger movements behind holding a pencil, using scissors and managing buttons and zippers — is a foundation for kindergarten readiness. Building those skills early, educators say, can keep a temporary developmental gap from becoming a long-term obstacle, and can sort out which children truly need special-education services from those who simply need practice and support.
The program’s current scope stays with the youngest learners. Asked whether it could help kindergartners who did not attend preschool, Meyers responded, “Right now the grant is directed towards the preschool population,” according to South Ohio News. The grant funding period runs from August 1, 2026, to June 1, 2027, according to Meyers’ presentation reported by South Ohio News.
With the second year funded, Chillicothe preschoolers will keep getting the small-group fine motor sessions through the current school year, and families can expect the take-home activity packets that the program’s first year made possible over the summer to remain part of the effort.