Thursday marked the 100th day of school, and with that came several celebrations from local elementary classrooms.
Lisa Auran, a first-grade teacher at Falls Elementary spent Tuesday night out shopping for supplies for her class’ 100 days of school project. The cost of the supplies came out of her own paycheck.
“I am no different than most teachers,” Auran said of spending her own money on items for students. “I spend a lot of my own money on my classroom.”
Supplies vary from season to season.. She’s constantly buying books, masking tape, folders, treats and stickers, all for her students, she said.
“If the kids need it, I buy it – within reason,” she said. “At Christmastime, I’m at Ben Franklin every day buying stuff for projects.”
The teacher of more than 20 years noticeably loves her job, but sometimes, the constant need to keep up to date on supplies can be tiring – and expensive. Which is why she said she is grateful for local organizations that donate money to the school.
One of those organizations is the Education Foundation.
Started in 1992 by a group of community members, the International Falls Education Fund Inc. was organized to provide a channel through which resources could be allocated to support academics and extra curricular activities in Independent School District. No. 361.
“The foundation believes students are entitled to the best education we can provide them,” said Mary Bigler, the foundation’s director. “Our purpose is enhancing the quality of education in ISD 361.”
International Falls Mayor Bob Anderson serves on the foundation’s board and said the group of people who chartered the effort realized the financial need of teachers to keep quality education flowing.
“We all had great feelings for the school,” he said of those who were part of the foundation in its infancy. “We all had special teachers who were mentors to us...We wanted to give students the same opportunities we had, so we looked to see what we could do to help the school district.”
The group realized the competition involved for state and federal school funding and decided the best way to give back to the district that helped nurture them into successful adults was to raise money to help produce quality education.
“We’ve done pancake feeds, but the biggest contributions come from alumni,” Anderson said.
Through the school’s All Class Reunion and alumni newsletter efforts started by Janet Shickell and Kay Herman, contributions to the district come in almost weekly, Anderson said.
“The money has just continued to come in,” he said. “Alumni feel strongly about (the district) and they, too, want to see students succeed.”
Helpful dollars
In 2014, the foundation was able to provide $12,029 toward academics and another $8,397 to extra curricular activities.
“We all feel so good that we are able to provide,” Bigler said. “It really is a jubilee meeting when we figure out how much we can give out and where the money is going to.”
Auran said foundation funds have allowed her to purchase seat sacks for the back of students’ chairs.
“In my classroom, we have tables instead of desks, so the seat sacks help with organizing our space and the management of materials,” she said.
Auran added game boards with words and phrases were also purchased to help classroom volunteers educate the students.
“I am so thankful for this source of funding,” Auran said of foundation dollars. “Our kids are truly the ones who benefit.”
Within means
While Auran and many other teachers are able to purchase much-needed supplies for their classrooms, the need is still high, Bigler said.
“Demand has increased this year due to state funding changes,” she said. “It feels good to say ‘yes,’ but we also have to say ‘no,’ and that is hard.”
When the foundation board has money to work with, Bigler said it is very careful to allocate funds appropriately.
“We vote, we talk, we make sure we are good stewards of the money that is donated,” she said. “Teachers have so many needs and while we consider every request, some of them don’t fall within our purpose.”
Still, Bigler and Anderson are hopeful the help of the board to the schools can only continue to produce top-notch education for Borderland’s youth.
“Education is the key to success in the world,” Anderson said. “The better the education, the better the student and future citizen. We love this school, its teachers and its students.”
