Arlee classrooms get boost from ‘Friends’
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ARLEE — Thanks to the work of a dedicated group of volunteers, Christmas came early this year for teachers at the Arlee School. Friends of Arlee School, Inc., gave $7,500 in art supplies, microscopes, musical instruments, software, calculators – and even dogfish for dissection — to kindergarten through high school classrooms at the Arlee School.
“These supplies aren’t met by (the school’s) state budget,” Friends board member Merrill Bradshaw explained.
Friends of Arlee holds the Buttercup Run every spring as a fundraiser for its donations to the school and scholarship program, and this year’s event was “incredible,” Bradshaw said.
Friends allocates about $200 per classroom, and teachers are asked to submit requests for materials and supplies they need that the school’s budget won’t cover.
“Sometimes it’s just basic stuff that they need, but then they like to do additional programs as well,” Bradshaw explained. “It’s pretty amazing … fortunately we’ve been able to provide for most of the requests.”
Susan Black, librarian and art teacher for kindergarten through third grade, has 140 art students to provide for, and without the Friends’ help, she said her classroom would suffer.
“We go through supplies really fast,” Black said. “(And) I don’t have a budget for my art supplies, so I’m really grateful for Friends of Arlee.”
This year, Black’s classes will have plenty of watercolors and disposable aprons for painting, thanks to the Friends.
“Every classroom request is important,” Bradshaw said. “(The teachers) know what’s best.”
In the high school, math teachers Scott Palmer and Jim Lindsey are excited to upgrade their classroom capabilities.
“With math, technology is always growing, so we need calculators,” Palmer said.
Palmer’s and Lindsey’s classrooms each will get two TI-84 graphing calculators, a start on the Friends’ plan to build a set of eight calculators for each high school math classroom.
Bradshaw said the group plans to continue increasing its yearly donations to the school, “but we’re seeing the needs go up, too.
“This was an interesting year for us to give grants; we’re seeing a huge increase in requests,” he said.
Friends of Arlee formed in 1992, when the Arlee School needed someone to manage a grant it received to fund a school counselor position. The Friends started as a nonprofit organization to take on the task and gradually evolved into a scholarship program.
The group also provides about $10,000 in scholarships annually to graduating seniors, with awards ranging from $250 to $2,000 per student. To qualify for a scholarship, a student must fill out an application, submit a high school transcript and write a short essay about his or her goals for the future. For more information, contact arl3335@blackfoot.net or visit the website www.buttercuprun.com.
