Just in time for the new school year, the Peace Arch Education Foundation (PAEF), a newly formed fundraising organization to support the Blaine school district, will hold its first community listening session 4-6 p.m. Monday, August 26 at the Blaine Senior Center, 763 G Street.
The session is meant to be a starting point for the community to voice what it believes are the best ways to help students and staff thrive in a school district that has seen multiple years of budget cuts and dwindling staff.
Former Blaine school board member Charles Gibson, who served on the board for 17 years, along with Bob Feaster and former Blaine mayor Bonnie Onyon, established the foundation as a way to give the community a voice for their ideas. The listening session, according to Gibson, is the first step in that process.
“The purpose of this listening session is to hear from the community what activities would be most beneficial for the Education Foundation to pursue to accomplish the most good for the students of Blaine public schools,” a PAEF press release stated.
Other school districts in Washington have some sort of community organization that works alongside, but independent from, the school district in an effort to raise money, organize parents and community members, and advocate for the students of its school district. According to Gibson, this will be the first time something like this has existed for the Blaine school district.
The community listening session will be structured around guiding questions to keep conversation focused on benefiting students and staff, and what this new organization can realistically accomplish.
For more information on the event, contact Charles Gibson at 360/201-5603, or email info.paef@gmail.com.
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