Manchester - Whether you are reading a safety instruction manual, a bus schedule or a feature article in the newspaper, good literacy skills are essential to everyday life. Making the transition from high school to the world of work will be a little bit easier for the students at the Easter Seals Robert B. Jolicoeur School because of a generous gift of 20 recycled flat-screened computers provided by Fidelity Investments of Merrimack.

The Robert B. Jolicoeur School is a private, residential special education school in Manchester serving approximately 125 middle and high school students with physical and behavioral disabilities. The donated computers will be used to help students develop their literacy skills in the school’s writing lab.

“We are appreciative to Fidelity Investments for this wonderful gift,” said Larry Gammon, Easter Seals President and CEO. “Our students are growing up in the age of technology, and these computers are the key to their future employment.”

The donated computers will be used by the Jolicoeur School’s teachers in several newly created computer courses as well as for the student’s general writing needs. Teachers help students with cognitive and physical disabilities prepare for independent living by providing them with assistance with resume writing and filling out employment applications. Students in the lower grades will be able to use the computers to research and write reports.

“Literacy and technology have a profound impact on everyone’s ability to be successful on today’s economy,” said Alison Stebbins, Fidelity Investment’s NH Regional General Manager. “Given the unique challenges faced by students who struggle with learning disabilities, we are proud to support the classroom efforts of their teachers.”   

Last year, the Fidelity Investments Literacy Initiative provided the Jolicouer School with a grant for a reading curriculum that is used by all the teachers.

About Fidelity Investments
Fidelity Investments is one of the world's largest providers of financial services, with custodied assets of more than $3.3 trillion, including managed assets of more than $1.5 trillion as of April 30, 2008. Fidelity offers investment management, retirement planning, brokerage, and human resources and benefits outsourcing services to 24 million individuals and institutions as well as through 5,500 financial intermediary firms. The firm is the largest mutual fund company in the United States, the No. 1 provider of workplace retirement savings plans, the largest mutual fund supermarket and a leading online brokerage firm. For more information about Fidelity Investments, visit http://www.fidelity.com/.