Club helps students with activities
Karen Peterson
Polson Booster Club members from left are: Pam Carruth, Shelley Croft, Jay Sampson, Kelley Druyvestein, Lisa Slama and Nate Lundeen gather for a meeting.
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POLSON – When high school activities need a boost, a group of community members calling themselves the Booster Club find ways to help.
“We help with anything sponsored by the Montana High School Association,” said Polson Booster Club member Pam Carruth.
Most high schools have a Booster Club to help with fundraising for many things like football helmets, warm-ups and even snacks. Members of the Polson Booster Club said that schools don’t always have funding available for needed things or extras, so the club steps in to help. The club also shows up to activities so that the students know someone cares.
“The most embarrassing thing is when the visiting team has more people in the crowd,” said member Kelley Druyvestein, adding that it boosts team spirit to see an involved community.
The Polson Booster Club is organized by a board that includes Vice President Shelley Croft, Treasurer Lisa Slama, Secretary Kim Hanson, Shannon Cannon, Heather Davies, Pam Carruth and Kelley Druyvestein.
Nate Lundeen is involved with the Polson school as the School Resource Officer for the Lake County Sheriff’s Department, and he sees the Booster Club as an important asset to the school. So when the board needed a president, he didn’t hesitate to step up.
The board also works closely with Jay Sampson, Polson School District Activities Director. One of the things he is focusing on during his first year as activities director is to make sure people understand the meaning of his title.
“I’m the activities director, not the athletic director,” he said. “It’s not just athletics.”
He oversees sports along with music, cheerleading and speech and debate by doing everything from scheduling transportation to washing towels. He also evaluates high school coaches, goes to every home event and meets with the booster club. Sampson says the booster club is an important part of the school.
“We couldn’t do a lot of things without their support,” he said of the many projects the club works on. His goal is to get more kids involved in those activities.
“If kids aren’t involved in something, it’s my opinion that a lot of them go home and do nothing,” he said. “Kids gain so much by being involved aside from the physical benefits. They learn how to be committed, how to finish something and they learn leadership skills.”
Sampson attends regular booster club meetings to help the club figure out where to focus their attention as far as fundraising. He recently mentioned to the board that the school needs a permanent structure to protect time-keeping equipment on the track field. He volunteered his skills to help build the structure. The board agreed to start fundraising for that and other projects including scoreboards, wrestling mats and treats for state competitions.
