Community Support for Our Schools is Appreciated

Community Support for Our Schools is Appreciated
Posted on 05/12/2016

​There are only a couple of weeks left in the 2015-2016 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 28, in the gymnasium at Menomonie High School.  The high school graduation ceremony is a wonderful celebration that can be shared by the graduates and everyone who supported them during their academic journey. Certainly, parents, teachers, coaches, friends and family members can have significant impact on the academic success of a child, but so does our community.

As this year’s seniors get ready to walk across the stage, it is appropriate to recognize and say thank you to the communities that support our local school district. The tremendous support that our school district enjoys from our business, higher education, municipal and neighborhood partners has a profound impact on our schools and the success of our students.

Beyond the support that our school district receives through 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 includes:

1. Scholarships- Thousands of dollars in scholarships are given to high school students each year. On May 2, this year’s senior class was presented with over $85,000 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 free meals and other valuable benefits to our wonderful educators.

3. Sports Complex- There has been much coverage of the recent groundbreaking for phase one of the sports complex being constructed at Menomonie High School.  Our local community has provided over $600,000 of donations and pledges to provide our students, staff and community members with a running track, soccer field and lower-level football field. Additional generous donations continue to flow into the school district and the Community Foundation of Dunn County.

4. Other Fundraisers- Community members and local businesses continue to support our schools and school-related programs by generously contributing time and resources.  The booster clubs continue to provide generous support for athletics, music and other co-curricular programming, and our PTO and other parent groups have raised thousands of dollars for our schools.

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 school-related programming. Our school district’s Twitter account is full of recent examples that include classroom volunteers, “mystery readers”, field trip chaperones and volunteer coaches.  Programs like Junior Achievement would not be possible without the support of our business partners who come into our classrooms to teach kids about certain business-related skills and functions.

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 later this month, 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 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).