Thank You for Supporting Our Schools

Thank You for Supporting Our Schools
Posted on 05/17/2018

There are only a couple weeks left in the 2017-2018 school year.  Many students are counting down the days, and so are some parents, teachers, and school administrators.  This year’s graduation ceremony will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, May 26, in the gymnasium at Menomonie High School.  The high school graduation ceremony is a wonderful celebration shared by the graduates and everyone else who helped them during their academic journey. Parents, teachers, coaches, friends and family members all have a significant impact on the success of our children, and so does our community.

With this year’s seniors soon getting ready to walk across the stage, now is a good time to recognize and say thank you to the community that supports our local school district.  The tremendous support that our school district enjoys from local businesses, higher education and municipal partners, and community neighbors has a significant impact on our schools and the success of our students.

Beyond the support that our school district receives through state funding and the local school tax levy, there are many additional ways that our community partners have demonstrated extraordinary support for our schools.  Some of the more recent examples include:

  1. Scholarships- Thousands of dollars in scholarships are given to high school students each year.  On May 7, this year’s senior class was presented with nearly $150,000 in scholarships during the MHS Scholarship and Awards Program.
  2. Teacher Appreciation- Last week was Teacher Appreciation Week.  Across our school district, parents, principals, and others treated our teachers with an array of treats, prizes and other recognition.  In some cases, local businesses provided discounts and other valuable benefits for our wonderful educators.
  3. Other Fundraisers- Community members and local businesses continue to support our schools by generously contributing time and resources.  Booster clubs continue to provide generous support for athletics, music and other co-curricular programming, and our PTOs and other local parent groups have raised thousands of dollars for our schools. Several teachers in the school district have also had success with special classroom projects being crowdfunded through DonorsChoose.org or covered by grants from philanthropic organizations like the AnnMarie Foundation.

While the generous financial support of our school district is much appreciated, the positive impact that our community has on our schools is not limited to funding.  Many parents and other community members regularly volunteer their time in our schools or at school-related events.  Our school district’s Twitter and Facebook accounts are full of recent examples that include volunteers helping in classrooms, serving as “mystery readers”, chaperoning field trips, and coaching or advising youth activities.  Many of these great learning opportunities for our children would not be possible without the involvement of our parents and community partners.

There are many wonderful public school districts and communities across our state and country, but we are truly fortunate in the School District of the Menomonie Area.  As our seniors walk across the stage next weekend, we will not only be celebrating the accomplishments of a wonderful class of seniors, but we will also be celebrating the success of our community.  The way that our school district and community has worked together to provide our children with a top-notch 21st Century learning experience is a feat that should continue to be recognized and celebrated.

Should school stakeholders have any questions about graduation, supporting our schools, or anything else related to our school district, I invite you to visit the Administrative Service Center or contact me at 715-232-1642.  More information about our schools can be found on the school district website (www.sdmaonline.com) and on Twitter (www.twitter.com/sdmaonline).