If every cloud really does have a silver lining, then the one that’s hovered over the Edmonds School District’s proposed levies the past two years is lined with concerned parents, students and community members.
The grassroots efforts that got the word out about the district’s needs in 2002 and 2003 has only multiplied this year.
“There’s a lot of interest on the part of a variety of people, be it staff, parents and community members in obtaining these much needed items for our students,” said district spokeswoman Debbie Jakala. “It’s nice to see that kind of enthusiam.”
School Election Teams, or “SETs” as they are commonly called, are made up of principals, teachers and students and have been established in each school in an effort to widen the communication within the district. Volunteers at phone banks have been calling voters every weeknight for the past month to encourage them to head to the polls May 18, and are ready to answer questions or discuss concerns.
The Citizens for Schools group also is in full throttle this year.
Parent and co-president of Citizens for Schools Madeline Herzog has participated in planning an election parade; “friends, family, neighbors and pets” will march with signs from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday, May 15. The parade will start at Edmonds-Woodway High School stadium and follow 76th Ave. north to 196th St.
This is the first year Herzog and her husband, Harry, have been so visually involved in the election.
“We’re really putting our time where our mouth is,” Madeline Herzog said.
Herzog grew up in the district, attending Hazelwood Elementary, Alderwood Junior High and Lynnwood High schools, graduating in 1979.
Other parents and community members also are doing their part to inform voters of the upcoming election.
Parent Sari White used her marketing background and a crafty idea and enlisted students and parents from Westgate Elementary School to make more than 360 crepe paper flowers stuck on the end of pencils. The flower has a note attached encouraging people to vote and some information about the levy, and will be passed out at the parade and in individual neighborhoods. The cost of the project – about $40 – was paid for by White.
“I really wanted it to be from kids … It’s really the children that the whole levy is about.”
For more information about the Edmonds School District’s levy proposal, call 425-670-7044.
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