News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Parents and kids wiped down every book in the school collection.
Darcy Davis and Holly — hard at work at school.
Parents and kids spent a busy Saturday at The Little Cloverdale Preschool, pulling and hauling truckloads of weeds and brush, cleaning toys and playground equipment and wiping down every book in the school.
The preschool's cleanup party is an annual event, and it's been happening for 19 years now.
"We're a cooperative school," said teacher Ann Kauzlarich (better known as Miss Ann). "One of the ways we can keep the costs down for everybody is to have people volunteer."
Parents are asked to donate at least 10 hours a year to help operate the school. The cleanup is just one of the many volunteer activities.
"Parents help in the classroom; that's one of the main things," said Miss Ann.
Parents also do administrative work and pitch in to stage fund-raisers.
Miss Ann thinks the work is good for the parents and the kids - as well as for the school.
"This gives them their first adventure in volunteering, being a part of your own child's education and being an advocate for them," Miss Ann said.
The school serves three- and four-year-old students in classes designated "acorn" and "pinecone."
"The acorn class is full, but in the four-year-old pinecone class we still have openings," Miss Ann said.
The volunteer spirit was evident on Saturday, as one dad stomped down a load of brush in his truck as a teenage helper adjusted his iPod and dug in with a rake. Moms and kids wiped down books, while another took sandwich orders. This is the way The Little Cloverdale Preschool keeps going.
"Everything you see - paint, the roof, the playground here - was done by parents," Miss Ann said. "It's a great tribute to the community here that they really wanted something wonderful for their children and they were willing to work to do it."
The Little Cloverdale Preschool is located at the junction of Highway 1126 and George Cyrus Road, just east of Sisters. For more information call 923-0337 or visit http://www.littlecloverdale.org.
Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.
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