As we close out the new year, we at the Vashon Schools Foundation board would like to take a minute to thank you, our community, for all your support this year.

Thanks to your generosity, Vashon Schools Foundation has distributed more than $240,000 to our schools in 2024.

The other day, I took my child to school late after a morning appointment. Instead of the quick drop off I expected, we ended up on a half hour excursion trying to find his class in the woods, where they were working on their science lessons at a pond. As I watched my child race joyfully through a maze of forested paths, trying to find his classmates by following their voices, I was so grateful for our wonderful schools, passionate educators and the amazing programs that bring such richness to education here on our island.

This year and every year, your generosity funds the incredible programs that make our island education so special and powerful. In a time of flagging state funding, you also bridge the gap to cover educational essentials that aren’t fully funded by the state.

This year, you have donated to Vashon Schools Foundation to support these essentials, like staffing at our schools, including funding for the middle school counselor and district nurse positions. Your support also funds programs that help our kids thrive at school.

Do you know what else helps kids thrive? Birds. Part of our work at the Vashon Schools Foundation has been funding a partnership with the Vashon Nature Center to bring real nature experiences into the science curriculum.

I spoke with Shanon Browne, a fourth-grade teacher at Chautauqua Elementary, who has been offering a bird unit to her students through this partnership for many years. As part of the curriculum, Vashon Nature Center sends experts into her class to share their knowledge of birds. Each child chooses a bird for a report, and then the bird team brings in taxidermized birds for the students to study and experience. Mrs. Browne described the shrieks of joy when a student found “their” bird, and the deep impact it had on the students to be able to see and touch (as well as sometimes hug) the bird they studied.

Finally, the partnership includes a field trip to Camp Sealth to walk in the woods looking for and listening for birds. This is the kind of joyful learning that I am so grateful to have in our schools.

One of the most important programs that Vashon Schools Foundation funds is resources and support for our most vulnerable students.

Our partners at Vashon Youth and Family Services run extensive support programs for students.

Funding from the Vashon Schools Foundation gives these programs the flexibility they need to offer counselors in both Spanish and English; immigration support to help families know their rights; and support for LGBTQ and Latinx students in crisis, among many other initiatives to support students and families.

Vashon Schools Foundation, and your support of our work, helps our teachers and administrators make sure that all students have the care and resources they need to come to school and learn.

This partnership underscores one of the things I love about our district. Because of our small community, students from all backgrounds attend school together on our island. In our region, that is unusual — schools are most often deeply segregated by income, with wealthier neighborhoods able to invest more in their schools and poorer neighborhoods struggling to fund basic education.

On Vashon, through the Vashon Schools Foundation, our community cares for every child in our community and works to ensure they have access to an excellent and joyful education.

Our schools are the heart of this community and the stewards of its future, our island’s children. In gratitude for our schools, I invite you to please join me in supporting the Vashon Schools Foundation this holiday season. With your help, we can ensure that essential educational opportunities, support for our most vulnerable children, and joyful experiences like science in the woods are accessible to all kids.

Every amount makes a difference. Thank you!

Kennedy Leavens is a Vashon Schools Foundation board member and co-president.