Thursday, August 20, 2009

An Experience Worth Fighting For

Here in Olympia, we've been hearing a rallying cry for AWSP's very own Cispus Learning Center.

When parents from Tumwater and Olympia learned their schools' annual student trips to Cispus could be the victim of district budget cuts, they took action. (Check out the "Save Cispus for Thurston County Students" page on Facebook.)

Recently, The Olympian and KIRO-TV ran stories about the parents' efforts to preserve the outdoor education programs. And today, we hear from The Olympian that the "Cispus school trips might survive." Turns out, the parents are making a difference by bringing this issue to the attention of their school boards and communities.

In Tumwater, the board will hear a proposal that the community be allowed to raise the $36,000 needed to continue the sixth-grade Cispus program next spring. In Olympia, parents have received welcome news: The amount they'll need to raise—$49,000—is about $21,000 less than what they originally expected.

According to Tumwater parent Raechel Laneer, the students' experience at Cispus is one that can't be replaced. (We agree.) Richard Louv would be proud.