![Pictured are Brenda Dwiggins, Pea Ridge Elementary; Diane Masaitis Pace Rotary president; and Sue Collier, also from Pea Ridge Elementary. [Special to the Press Gazette]](http://127.0.0.1/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/ghows-DA-57130f73-1c70-0500-e053-0100007f3dcf-24c397a1.jpeg)
PACE — The Pace Rotary Club’s recent guest speakers were Brenda Dwiggins (Pea Ridge Elementary assistant principal) and Sue Collier (STEAM teacher at Pea Ridge Elementary).
Dwiggins and Collier came to speak to Rotary members about Community Outreach 411 and ask for help. Since demographics have changed in the Pea Ridge area, Pea Ridge Elementary has struggled to keep the “A” rating it maintained for 12 years. In recent years, the school has fallen as low as a “C.” Fifty-one percent of the students at Pea Ridge, now a Title 1 school, receive free or reduced lunch
Currently, 50 students attending Pea Ridge Elementary live in the Bell Ridge Apartment Complex. Many of these children’s parents lack the time or resources to be involved in school activities to help their children improve their reading.
Community Outreach 411 hopes that having a fun cookout at the apartment complex will encourage student and parent involvement. The event will take place Oct. 12 from 4:30- 6:30 p.m. Hotdogs, chips and drinks will be provided to everyone. Community Outreach 411 seeks donations and volunteers to help the day of the event.
Pace Rotary meets 7 a.m. Thursdays at Stonebrook Golf Club, 3200 Cobblestone Drive, Pace.
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Pace Rotary members learn about Pea Ridge Elementary outreach