CHIMACUM — The Chimacum School District is celebrating its centennial with an open house tonight (Thursday) that is intended to involve community members in its future while recognizing its past.
“This will be a community celebration that includes fun, music and activities,” said Rick Thompson, the newly hired district superintendent.
“It will give us a chance to get feedback from the community as to where we should go in the future.”
Tonight’s event begins at 6:30 p.m. in the high school gym, 91 West Valley Road, and will offer tours of the facility conducted by students and staff.
“Schools don’t turn 100 very often, and we felt this was worthy of a celebration,” said Whitney Meissner, high school principal.
Activities include performances by the Chimacum Band and the creation of a time capsule, which will be put in place for the benefit of future generations of students and faculty.
The school district opened in 1915. This year’s ninth-graders will be the 100th graduating class.
The tour will include the positive aspects of the facility such as the newly renovated gym that opened last year and which serves as the event’s initial gathering place.
It is also intends to demonstrate the school’s shortcomings and allow the public to ask about how improvements should be funded.
This follows the decisive defeat of a $34.8 million bond proposal in February that would have funded such improvements as the renovation of Chimacum Creek Primary School, rebuilding the elementary school and the construction of an athletic facility.
Thompson said the district plans to approach the voters again this coming February and will use the centennial celebration as a way to open dialogue as to how that measure will appear.
Thompson will be on hand to explain the bond process and answer questions about options.
“One choice is to do nothing and let the buildings deteriorate and then use general fund money to fix them, and another is to ask for a large amount from the voters to get everything we want or need,” Thompson said.
“Neither are good options. The best idea is to craft a new proposal based on what people liked and didn’t like about the last one.”
This could involve scaling down aspects of the plan or even separating the academic and athletic components, Thompson said.
Thompson also will tell about the district’s new partnership with www.thoughtexchange.com, an educational website that provides an opportunity for members of the community to provide input about specific issues and programs.
Participants can log on to a specific link that will be posted on the district’s website with their anonymous comments collected. The data will be used by the School Board to shape the bond proposal, Thompson said.
“The challenge in a small rural district is always how to manage your resources,” Meissner said.
“A larger district has different people doing different things. In a smaller district like Chimacum, you get more of a community and family sense.”
Meissner said the biggest challenge is to support students who have significant learning needs and give them the skills they need to enter the job market, with or without college.
“We want to give kids the tools to learn how to do what they enjoy doing,” she said.
“Kids can find their own happiness whether a school is large or small,” Meissner said.
“But this is a great place for kids to grow up because people are looking out for each other and paying attention to what’s going on.”
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Jefferson County Editor Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or cbermant@peninsuladailynews.com
