WEST WINDSOR-PLAINSBORO: $10,000 raised to save Outdoor Education

By Allison Musante, Staff Writer
   WEST WINDSOR-PLAINSBORO — Thanks to combined efforts across the West Windsor-Plainsboro school district, this year’s class of sixth graders will be participating in the Outdoor Education program.
   The WW-P Education Foundation recently announced that it raised $10,000 to save the program, a casualty of the district’s 2010-2011 budget.
   For more than 35 years, nearly all sixth graders have participated in the three-day environmental education program, which combines outdoor survival skills and team-bonding activities at an off-site location, usually held in May or June.
   Executive Director Marcia Smith Fleres said the organization has been fund-raising for the past five months to continue the beloved environmental education trip, a staple of the sixth grade curriculum for decades.
   ”We didn’t do alone and couldn’t do alone,” Ms. Fleres said. “We worked with the Community Middle School Parent-Teacher-Student Association, the Grover Middle School PTSA, and had the help of students, teachers, families and the administration. This was a huge collaborative effort. It was clear that the community values this program and it’s worth saving.”
   The foundation raised money from students, families and local businesses. As a member of the Outdoor Ed Committee, Jonathan Reed, the manager of PNC Bank in West Windsor donated $400 of corporate funds. Rachan Sirihoracahi, a Community Middle School parent, received a grant for $500 from his company, Bayer USA Foundation. The rest was raised through private donations from families and from sales of $5 “go green” wristbands, which students purchased during lunch periods. The bands were donated by Aztec Graphics, a custom sportswear company in Trenton.
   The donation will make the program fully funded by parents, who will be asked to pay slightly more per student than previous years. The $10,000 will come off the total cost, which administrators were able to reduce from $50,000 to $38,000, district spokeswoman Gerri Hutner said. Parents would pay the difference of $28,000, which equals a per-student cost of $195 — about $20 more than last year.
   ”If students are unable to afford it, we have the ability to make sure no child is denied the opportunity,” Ms. Hutner said.
   The two middle school principals identified ways to reduce other trip costs, such as enlarging the groups of students to combine bus services. Instead of sending three small groups per trip, the schools would send two larger groups per trip.
   ”They found ways to trim down a few other things in the program but maintain the integrity of the curriculum,” Ms. Hutner said.
   Ms. Fleres said the foundation will continue reaching out to businesses for continued funding.