It’s the time of year when the Vashon Schools Foundation has its annual pledge drive. It’s one of many worthy causes raising funds in the community this month. Also, as a parent of two Chautauqua students, I’m well aware that spring brings sports fees, gear purchases and summer camp registrations as everyone gets ready for end of school and warmer weather.

With so many demands on family finances, it’s a challenge to contemplate one more expense — especially when the state of Washington is supposed to be funding public education, not parents.

So why, then, do I donate to the Vashon Schools Foundation every year? Why do I encourage others to do the same? Simply put, I want to keep and enhance the quality of education available here for all island students, including my own.

I am a 1984 graduate of Vashon public schools. I know that I benefited from the devoted staff, small class sizes, challenging curriculum and virtually unmatched array of enrichment opportunities that existed then and persist today. There are precious few school districts in the state that enjoy this kind of continuity or consistency. Just ask the dozens of mainland families who enroll their children in Vashon public schools each year.

Like these families, I recognize that island schools are not merely functional, they are extraordinary.  If my son needs extra help in math, there’s academic help available. If my daughter is having a problem with a friend, there’s a counselor on staff ready to assist as needed.

There are advanced academic study programs. There’s bilingual preschool. There’s a self-directed learning program for homeschool families. There’s summer school assistance available. The curriculum is continually being evaluated and enhanced. New textbooks and lab equipment are provided when the prior generation’s tools become outdated or break.

Then there’s all the amazing art and music programs, science clubs and school-sponsored sports options, many of them mentored by professionals from the community, as well as school district staff.

All these opportunities that are just presumed to be part of the Vashon school experience are considered luxuries in other districts.  They are deemed non-essentials that have been either cut out or downsized in mainland schools, mostly due to lack of funding.

I feel these programs are necessities, not luxuries. Like every parent, I want my kids to have the advantage of choices, tools and instruction to help them become well-educated and well-rounded individuals by graduation day.

So I am more than happy to give a donation to the Vashon Schools Foundation to help keep all this going. We’ve set up our gift on the foundation’s web site as an auto pay monthly contribution that fits our budget, and we let it run. My husband and I feel good knowing we are participating. Our donation, along with the collective donations of other school families, island business owners and generous community benefactors, is helping ensure academic stability and quality for all our kids in the present, and contributing to a legacy for Vashon students of the future to continue to thrive.

A last word about thriving.  One of the most exciting district proposals for next year is the new mental health and suicide prevention initiative. The goal of this program is to provide on-campus resources for issue identification, early intervention, counseling and support services in grades K-12. Staff training and processes will be implemented in order to proactively address issues of diversity, conflict, depression and isolation, promoting good mental and emotional health for every student in the Vashon Island public school system.

I want to support a school district that thinks this way. One that responds to community sorrow with a progressive plan to help achieve wellness while avoiding tragedy in the student population it serves. I hope you will want to support it as well.

— Rheagan Sparks is on the Vashon Schools Foundation board.