POTOMAC - Parents and teachers at Potomac Elementary School are holding a fundraising event, the Blackfoot Rendezvous Saturday, June 16 from 10 a.m. - 9 p.m. at the Potomac Greenough Community Center, 29827 Potomac Road. Funds raised will help fund the school’s Friday Explorers program after the grant that funded the program was not renewed for the 2018-2019 school year.
The Friday Explorers is a supplemental program that students can attend on Fridays because the Potomac School has a four-day school week. It was previously funded by a 21st Century Community Learning Centers grant, which gives schools money to fund programs before or after school.
Principle John Rouse said that the requirements for the grant changed to favor schools with more at-risk students. Potomac School was not awarded money for next year.
“Those grants became competitive,” Rouse said. “Anybody that applies competes against the other people who have submitted [an application] to them. There are a lot more new, stringent requirements.”
Despite the school combining its needs with the Bonner school, the grant application was still not accepted.
“That’s why you now have a group of parents who are working hard to get some outside funding through fundraisers,” Rouse said.
Lacey Van Grinsven and her family moved to Potomac from an area with a very advanced school, and at first, she was afraid her children would not receive the same opportunities in a small school with a four-day-week schedule.
“But what really made the Potomac School stand apart was the Friday program,” Van Grinsven said. “The kids who attended were treated with hands on, experiential learning. They have opportunities they wouldn’t probably have otherwise and they take those learning opportunities and can apply them.”
Part of the issue the families of Potomac School face is the lack of childcare available on Fridays. There are currently no full-time daycare providers in the area. Thomas Brown, another parent, has been able to schedule his work around his children’s school schedule but sends his children to the Explorers program as a way to make ends meet.
“Without Explorers, I would have to make additional arrangements for my children and none of the options would provide them with the same environment and experiences we have become accustomed to,” Brown said.
Both Brown and Van Grinsven stressed that the program is much more than daycare in the experiences and enrichment it provides to their children.
“The program develops the children’s mind through learning, body through activity, and ultimately their soul through the sense of achievement they leave with, excited about the things they have learned and knowing they have the power to adapt and overcome in real life situations,” Brown said.
The fundraiser itself will include a fun run obstacle course, live music, mule wagon rides, a community estate sale and booths from outside vendors.
“I think it encompasses everything that makes our community great: experiencing our beautiful valley and exercising with the fun run, food, family, music, vendors with awesome Montana made products, and just the good ol’ Montana experience,” Van Grinsven said. “The Potomac is an amazing place to live, full of amazing fun people and we want everyone to be able to experience our hospitality and have a great time doing it.”
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