MAGNOLIA SPRINGS, Ala. — Thanks to a grant from Gulf Coast Resource and Development, more students will stay dry at Magnolia School.

During a ceremony at the school Tuesday, the nonprofit organization presented the school with a check for $10,000.

“We were looking at a walking track,” said Drayton Cosby of the Cosby Company, an affiliate of the organization. “Then we realized they really needed a better awning.”

According to Magnolia School Principal Denita Hill, the school’s previous covered walkway only enabled two or three students to load or unload without getting wet on rainy days.

“We have quite a few kids who are car riders,” she said. “Hopefully, they will stay dry.”

Hill estimated that with the new awning addition, as many as a dozen students could move from the carline without getting wet in inclement weather.

“I am so appreciative,” she said.

Hill added that by staying dry, students would have one less distraction in the classroom.

Alabama Rep. Steve McMillan, who was instrumental in procuring the funding for Magnolia School, said additional projects are planned in South Baldwin.

“We’re hoping to do something similar at Bon Secour School,” he said.