By: Becky Gulden

This past spring, longtime Tipp City resident Larry Brown decided to give back to an often-underserved segment of the population in a big way.

He established a new endowment fund through the Tipp City Foundation called the Larry Brown and Cherie Beck Fund for Persons with Disabilities. He said the idea came to him after reading about other funds in the foundation’s annual report but, more importantly, it was also a way to honor his late wife.

“I grew up rather poor but have always appreciated the help and opportunities that came my way, and left me feeling that this should be repaid,” Larry said.

Each year the fund will award grants to RT Industries and Miami County Board of Developmental Disabilities, organizations that help people with disabilities thrive within the community.

Larry, who was a teacher by trade but a musician by passion, knows a lot about RT Industries because he often performs there.

“It was very touching to see and feel the friendship and response of individuals who face challenges beyond what many of us experience,” Larry said. “During a session some might take a microphone and enjoy being the star, while others would accompany them on percussion instruments.”

RT Industries is a non-profit provider of services for people with disabilities. Their mission is to help people achieve personal success by developing skills to confidently work, interact, and thrive in the community. They prepare people for employment and provide on-the-job support. RT Industries supports more than 300 adults and more than 40 school-aged students each year within Miami and surrounding counties. The Larry Brown and Cherie Beck Fund for Persons with Disabilities will make unrestricted awards annually and forever to RT Industries and Miami County Board of Developmental Disabilities "Riverside." Larry decided not to restrict how these organizations will use the money; it will be up to their leadership to decide where the need is greatest each year.

Larry says he learned about the Miami County Board of Developmental Disabilities from friends.

“Having adult friends of my wife's family, some of whom experienced disabilities, I came to appreciate their special qualities and the joy it was to share their company,” Larry said. “Some had musical and other talents. I will always remember the brother and sister, JD and Mary Lou. JD played drums and Mary Lou was quite gregarious. Cherie and I picked them up one time to take them to her parents for a party. On the way, Mary Lou was talking nonstop. Finally, JD spoke up and said, ‘Mary Lou, let the man drive the van.’ Cherie and I got a big kick out of that.”

Larry Brown grew up in East Tennessee and moved to Ohio in 1968 after graduating from Tennessee Tech. He met his wife, Cherie Beck, after moving to the same apartment complex and bonding at the mailbox over his guitar playing. They were married in 1970, just three months after meeting. They were both teachers and they were both advocates for helping people.

“As a teacher, part of my responsibility was working with students with various disabilities. I came to appreciate and love what they accomplished,” Larry said.

Larry retired in 2007 from the Bradford Exempted Village School District, where he taught special education and advanced studies. Cherie died in 2022 at the age of 75 and while she never saw this generosity come to life, Larry says she would have loved it.

“My late wife, Cherie would have been pleased as well as very supportive of a fund meant to aid those individuals with disabilities. In fact, Cherie's mother, who led a Girl Scout troop in the 1950s, started what may have been the first inclusive troop in Ohio, which included girls with disabilities. They wore the same uniforms and participated in the same activities together as girls without disabilities,” Larry explained.

Larry and Cherie first moved to Tipp City in 1977 to buy a historic house in town. In 1984, they moved into a second historic home, which Larry still lives in today. They loved the less-crowded atmosphere and historic nature of Tipp City.

“We enjoyed meeting and making friends with a number of wonderful people in an attractive, lively, unique environment,” Larry said. “Those were among the things we valued most in Tipp City.”

Those who know Larry are not surprised by his generosity. Heather Bailey, a board member for the Tipp City Foundation, explains how the fund came to be.

“When I met Larry the first time, I asked myself, ‘How does such a big heart fit into that trim body?’ He knew that he wanted to create an endowment fund, but he wasn't sure what purpose would best reflect interests that he and Cherie shared. There were many to choose from. He contemplated where he finds joy and where he sees unmet needs. It was through that lens that he realized that he wanted to focus on people with disabilities,” Heather said.

If you want to follow in Larry’s footsteps and set up an endowment fund, it starts with a confidential conversation with Heather.

“Like Larry, every one of our endowment donors decides a fund's purpose by asking themselves, ‘What would make the community a better place?’ I will not say anything to sway their thinking, unless asked,” Heather said.

Right now, there are 67 endowment funds through the Tipp City Foundation. If you are interested in learning more about setting one up, reach out to Heather by calling 937-528-2482 or email info@tippfoundation.org.

By Becky Gulden

It has been nearly a year since two grants were awarded by the Tipp City Foundation to Bethel Elementary School to support fundamentals of learning in math fluency and reading comprehension, and the results speak for themselves.

Melinda Campbell has been a teacher for 24 years – 11 of those years at Bethel. She teaches fifth-grade math. She used her grant money to buy a three-year subscription to Reflex Those Math Minds. Reflex is an online platform that engages students to learn basic math facts like addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.

“It has helped ease the burden of finding engaging activities, so students become fluent in their math facts,” explained Campbell.

She says her students have seen greater gains in fluency this school year than any other year.

“Students are engaged, want to do Reflex, thus preparing them to be more successful and confident in learning math concepts across the board,” said Campbell.

She explains how it works.

“Students begin each day by doing a warmup to practice the set of math facts they are working on,” Campbell said. “Then they start practicing the math facts they need to become fluent with in a fun game-style lesson. Once they have answered enough facts correctly for the day, they receive a green light. Each students’ goal is to receive at least three green lights a week.”

There’s another bonus: helping with their confidence.

“Each week we have Milestone Mondays,” Campbell said. “Students receive recognition for the number of facts solved, new facts solved, total problems solved, percent proficient. This is great as all students have an opportunity weekly to get recognized for their work.”

The grant has increased engagement and the overall excitement of students to practice and learn their math facts, Campbell said.

Teacher Christina Randall also received a grant, this one to help with reading comprehension. She used her grant money to buy a tool called Read Naturally, an evidence-based curriculum used to intervene with students who are struggling to read fluently.

Randall says Read Naturally provides intensive reading intervention, differentiated instruction for a wide range of readers, motivating informational text for reluctant readers, feedback to students and teachers through graphs of individual progress, and nonfiction reading opportunities as required by state standards.

Randall says that so far, the software has increased reading accuracy, comprehension, and vocabulary.

She explains how it has been helping her in the classroom.

“Teachers can differentiate instruction easily using Read Naturally, a reading fluency intervention that accelerates reading achievement by using the research-based Read Naturally Strategy using printed materials and audio CDs,” Randall said. “Students become confident readers by developing fluency, comprehension, and vocabulary while reading nonfiction reading passages with questions. This intervention program engages students with interesting nonfiction stories and yields powerful results.”

According to Randall, Read Naturally allows students to work at their own pace. The student works through the steps and masters a story by reading along with audio and then practicing the story until he or she can read it fluently and comprehend the subject matter.

The grant was paid out of the Bethel Community Fund and the Radle Family Fund for Science Education.

“The grants awarded to Bethel Elementary provide tools proven by evidence-based research to improve fluency in reading and math,” said Jim Ranft, Tipp City Foundation Distribution Committee Chairman. “It is critical for students to master these skills, as they are the building blocks for their success in all areas of study. The Foundation prioritizes grants that allow schools to adapt the most innovative new programs and technology.”