Community Thanks March 22, 2015

Ponderosa principal grateful for community's support

Ponderosa Elementary School's children have long been blessed by a supportive community. One of our unsung and longtime heroes exceeded all hopes this year.

A member of the Post Falls Lions Club, this gentleman has given our fourth-graders grand memories for the past 15 years during our Pat Triphahn Memorial Idaho History Rendezvous. More than 1,500 children have had the hands on experience of using a two-man buck saw as they experience Idaho history with their own hands, thanks to this tireless volunteer.

This year our school was the recipient of a large technology grant obtained through a competitive process. In an effort to keep the project scalable and replicable to other Idaho schools, we chose to purchase literature sorters and convert them ourselves for use as charging stations for 560 Chromebooks in 23 classrooms. Purchasing actual charging stations would have taken us well above our budget at an additional $30,000.

Within days of assembling our "sorters" it was clear that our attempt to save money would not work even for the most careful 6-11-year-olds. Enter our unsung hero. This long standing Lions Club member developed, created, and installed a solution that transformed our wobbly charging cubbies into rock solid stations that can withstand daily use by our students. The entire process consumed multiple weekends over a two month period for this gentleman who also has a full time job. Our staff and students are deeply grateful.

Thank you, Paul Wagner, for making a difference at Ponderosa Elementary!

Sincerely,

KATHY BAKER, principal

Ponderosa Elementary School

Post Falls