Spring 2004 Newsletter

The Queen Bee Sale sponsored by the 549 Family Foundation held this past Saturday was a great success.  The cafetorium at Prairie Wind Middle School was jam-packed with new and used clothes, new formals, new and used appliances, furniture, shelving, sporting goods, new and used toys, household including full sets of dishware, decorations, bikes, new and used shoes, and the entire inventory was priced to sell at ONE DOLLAR a piece from 6am till 1pm.  There were 14 items set aside and special priced which were gone early in the day.  There was a line at the door at 6am mostly of workers from the previous day who knew what great stuff was there.  They also knew the $3.00 admission till 9am was well worth it.

At 1pm, everything dropped 50% again, making the deals fly out the door, but nothing could have predicted the excitement and fury that ensued at 2:20 when it was announced everything was "now free"!  For 50 minutes, people scrambled up and down the isles grabbing and stuffing into boxes and bags as much as they could carry.  It cleared the tables and hangers of the remaining inventory till there were only a few bags of items left to pass on to Clothing for Kids and Someplace Safe, organizations that distribute to people in need.

The 549 Family Foundation planned this project as a service to the area.  Each spring, many people bring tons of items out of the area to Fergus Falls or Fargo to be donated.  This sale was an excellent opportunity for people to make their tax-deductible donations locally.  With all the flyers and ads, people in need of these kinds of items were informed of the free give-away at 2:30, so the items were kept here benefiting people in this area.

The 549 Family Foundation was formed in 2002 to support and enhance the programs and activities of school district 549 in which our kids are involved each year.  The fiscal health of our school district has a direct impact on every citizen of the district whether they have kids enrolled here or not.  As the budget is tightened, the need for this kind of support is becoming increasingly important to sustain what we've all grown to expect from our district.  Visit www.549family.com, become a member, get involved!

Special thanks go to George Gerken and the Fairgrounds Board for allowing us to collect and store our donations for the weeks preceeding the sale.  Thank you, contributors, for all the wonderful donations that made the sale high quality.  Thanks to Nadines, Pamida and Elegance for the loan of equipment to display.  A big thank you to all the great volunteers who transported and helped to set up everything on Friday, all the adults and students who helped work the sale and all the people who were able to help clean up after all was done!

I'd like to personally thank a few very special people.  Dana Marske, Perham's Promise Fellow, put in several hours doing footwork to businesses, helping to sort donations and gather items we needed.  Kristi Karels, Vision to Action and Darla Guehna, HOTL teacher, both spent several hours setting up, working the sale and cleaning up, which was well beyond the call of duty.  And last, but not least, Mark, Angie and Jenna Strege who not only helped with all the set-up, the sale and clean-up, but have had to eat their own cooking, wash their own clothes and be on their own for the last couple weeks with mom in "project mode".  Thank you so much.

Will there be a Queen Bee Sale next year?  The jury is still out.  Was it worth the work?  If the smiles and excitement of all the customers last Saturday was any indication, the answer would have to be a "definitely YES"!

549 Family Foundation Has Great Start

Did you know the 549 Family Foundation is a community-run organization made up of moms and dads, transplants and alumni, volunteers and donors? The school does not run it. Less than 2 years old, it already has plenty to boast about; funding several projects to benefit kids of 549.

Did you know the 549 Family Foundation has partially funded the Volunteer Network for the past two years? The VN has not only recorded over 6000 hours of volunteer service each year, but also started many now-popular programs like Reading Buddies, Exploratories, Captain’s Table, Cartridges for Kids, Youth Service Projects and more.

Did you know the 549 Family Foundation has received a single donation of over $100,000 to assist the Kids’ Adventure Program? More classroom equipment has been added, transportation assistance, and playground equipment have been purchased and more is to come. This has had a huge impact on the collaborative work happening between Community Education’s Learning Readiness programs.

Did you know the 549 Family Foundation gave thousands of dollars to the 8th grade Laurentian Trip to help curb the cost for parents? The Laurentian Experience is an adventure education course in leadership, teamwork and respect. The kids are given challenges over the course of 4 days, teaching them lifelong lessons in empathy, integrity and character.

Did you know the 549 Family Foundation gave thousands of dollars over two years to assist the Science Research Team of Perham High School with state & international travel and special training in Statistics which in turn helps students develop better projects?

Did you know the 549 Family Foundation gave thousands of dollars to help fund the much-needed pit for the PHS Gymnastics Team, STATE CHAMPIONS? The training that the pit makes available to the team has helped to make them the champions they are now.

All of these things received partial or full funding from the 549 Family Foundation. And it’s thanks to the many caring, generous people that see the benefit of supporting the programs in district 549 and became members. There are many highly beneficial, worthwhile programs in need of assistance. By joining together as a community, we can help keep the high standard of education to which we’ve become accustomed.

Join us in the hive!!

Does the school administration run this show? No. Parents and leaders of the area run the foundation because, of course, there needs to be someone making the decisions. The intention is to seek the input from the superintendent, the principals and the staffs of the school district to determine the needs, services, and support that will most benefit the students.

The education of the youth in district 549 is a priority of everyone in district 549. We need to work together as a family to provide support and service to the students of school district 549. 549 Family Foundation unites all of us in this cause.

With school budgets tightening every year and possibilities of tax levies on the horizon, the time to rally together to keep the quality programs and activities to which this district has become accustomed is NOW! Become a member of the 549 Family Foundation!

Coming soon to a wall near you…

The 549 Family Foundation works with the district in a team effort to provide whatever assistance possible, but when it’s time to make a decision, who takes the reigns? The 549FF Advisory Committee.

Advisory committee members are selected annually in December by a majority vote of the then-current members, and begin serving on January 1st of the following year. Members are able to serve 2 consecutive three-year terms. Feel free to contact these people with your ideas or questions about the 549 Family Foundation.

What’s next?

As the district budget tightens, there are programs or activities that invariably end up getting reduced or eliminated completely. Some of these programs or activities are what sets Perham-Dent apart from the others. They are things which people have grown accustomed to have available here in the Perham-Dent school district.

Besides continuing to fund several of the programs it has supported in the past, the 549FF board is studying the long list of projects to determine the priorities. The intention is to draw focus to a short list of needs and fill them as the funds are raised. Among the possible pet projects are technology & equipment.

As technology grows to become more and more common place in all our lives, education must reflect the change. More computer lab space is needed. Classrooms need more computers, digital projection equipment and screens. Software, sound, digital & technical equipment is needed not only for classroom use, but also for the music, media, agriculture and theater departments. With needs in this area so high, an annual technology grant from 549FF would be put to excellent use.

Equipment and facilities also continuously need to be kept in good condition and upgraded over time. Choir risers, sound shell, stage curtains and audience seating in the auditorium are all at the point of needing either repair or replacement. Several have suggested converting the old tennis courts at the high school to a much-needed parking lot.

Academic, art, and athletic teams & clubs need more funding for travel to games, events and conventions to fill their schedules and stay competitive. Perham-Dent has built highly successful Speech & Mock Trial programs; both are activities colleges often seek out on student applications. The outstanding graduates Perham-Dent continually produces reflect the high standard of the music, art, theater, agriculture and media departments. We need to do all we can to support and maintain the integrity of these programs.

As the 549 Family Foundation Pet Projects are selected, contributors will be able to make a general donation or pick the project they would like to support. As projects are funded, new projects will be chosen. Ask a board member about current pet projects. Support ISD 549 through the 549 Family Foundation.