–by Margie Doyle —
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The 2016-17 school year is off to an auspicious start, as evidenced at the Tuesday, Sept. 6 kickoff in the school courtyard in front of the Old Gym (maybe we should start calling it the Good Old Gym?)
Rain clouds and grey skies were dispelled by 4 p.m. when Orcas Island School District (OISD) Superintendent Eric Webb, assisted by OISD Board President Tony Ghazel, dished up hot dogs for the families of kids and grown-ups that came in a steady stream.
School Cafeteria Manager Debbie Guildford and District Administrative Assistant Cathy Ferran helped sign students up for the “Free and Reduced” cost lunch program. Orcas Island Elementary School has registered over 50 percent of enrollment in this program in recent years, which enables the district to take advantage of grant opportunities from various agencies that require that threshold.
Representatives from the Funhouse, Community Foundation, Park and Recreation District, Orcas Open Arts, Education Foundation, Domestic Violence/Sexual Assault Service (DV/SAS) and Community Resource Center manned tables to engage the school public.
Holly King, longtime past president of the Parent-Teacher-Student Association (PTSA) supervised the Bouncy House that had a continuous lineup of kids doing what kids love to do — jump and shout. Holly and Jeremy King arranged for delivery and set-up of the giant carnival attraction. Current PTSA President Diane Boerstler also devoted much time to make the event a success.
New elementary principal Lorena Stankevich, accompanied by her husband Dimitri and well-behaved dog, greeted all who came.
School administrators were delighted with the success of the inaugural event, saying the feedback was great and signaled an enthusiastic start to a great year. Students, teachers and parents walked, drove and rode school buses on Wednesday, Sept. 7 as the educational year begins.
Thanks, Margie, for covering this wonderful event. What a great opportunity for kids to ease back into school, for parents to find out about so many different programs, and for many of these programs to sign up volunteers. On that note, the program bringing artists into the elementary school and middle school, which used to be called Orcas Open Arts but split off from that organization several years ago, is called A-OK or Art for Orcas Kids, and this was the group that was thrilled to participate in the Tuesday event. Thanks to those of you who signed up to volunteer, and if anyone didn’t get a chance to sign up to help but would like to find out more, please contact Geri Turnoy at 376-4165. Thanks.