Vashon Schools Foundation makes a difference

December 15, 2022 1:30 am
A Chautauqua student creates nature art with fern leaves and hand-made paint created from wild berries harvested from the school’s woodlands (Dawn Stief Photography).
A Chautauqua student creates nature art with fern leaves and hand-made paint created from wild berries harvested from the school’s woodlands (Dawn Stief Photography).

As 2022 comes to a close, the Vashon Schools Foundation reflects on our joint accomplishments. There is a lot to be grateful for, and we’re particularly grateful that this community shows up. Teachers show up for kids; parents show up for classrooms, and our nonprofit partners show up for our school district. This couldn’t happen without you, our community, showing up for us with your financial support. Thank you!

When you donate to the Vashon Schools Foundation, we pass on your gift, which is so much more expansive than the dollar amount. Your impact on Vashon’s kids grows every year. Here’s how that happened this year:

Outdoor Tuesdays at Chautauqua Elementary were launched through the Vashon Wilderness Program (VWP) creating an extra learning recess with 480 kids participating each week. VWP provides nature immersion experiences that cultivate a deep relationship between the child, their community, and the natural world.

Vashon Artists in Schools, in partnership with Vashon Island School District teachers at all three schools, created 18 artist residencies using the arts to build upon and enhance academic curriculum, across many subject areas.

Vashon Nature Center worked with 45% of all district students – from second to ninth grade – to expand curiosity and wonder in our kids. By incorporating community science projects into school curricula and teacher trainings, STEM learning is tied not only to national standards but is also immersed in our local environment.

Journeymen provided 900 hours of mentorship for kids to explore themes such as compassion, integrity, resiliency, leadership, equity, and service in a safe, supportive, and empowering setting.

Seeing the power of this community inspires us. To put a number on it, this community has collectively shown up with $200,000 each year to provide core funding to these programs, and others too. This year, we’re stretching our goal to raise $250,000 to help grow this impact and reach more kids.

In addition to great teachers and strong academics, these enriching experiences are what make Vashon’s schools great. We ask the greater Vashon community to join with us to reach this goal.

So, we ask you again to show up, to continue supporting Vashon’s unique education, an education that tells the story of a community on a little island in the Pacific Northwest that cares deeply for its environment, its kids and the shape of our collective future. Donations can be mailed to Vashon Schools Foundation, P.O. Box 481, Vashon, WA 98070, or online at vashonschoolsfoundation.org.

— Mary Margeret Briggs is the treasurer of the Vashon Schools Foundation.