End of Year Reflections

Each year in July, we "close the books" for the prior school year and "open the books" for the upcoming year. This year, this involves reviewing incoming donations and outgoing expenses for 121 accounts and nearly 350 subaccounts to ensure that every donation is spent the way every donor intended.

While it's a big task, I always get excited when it comes time to look over all of these accounts and tally up the tremendous successes our schools and students have because of the generosity of community members, businesses, and nonprofits. So

many of the opportunities provided to students by donors simply could not happen without it. At Adams Elementary, for example, students are able to participate in a full art program because the community has reached out to support that. At Cheldelin Middle School, new laptops and other technology items were purchased through the generous support of sponsors, donors, and attendees of last year's magic show. At Corvallis High School, music students attended a variety of conferences and festivals. The Bicycle Safety team was able to purchase a bike safety education trailer. High school students district-wide were able to participate in Peace Jam at Oregon State University--a valuable and often life-changing service learning experience. The list goes on and on.

Over the next two weeks, I'll spend most of my time looking at successes like these, as well as looking at those areas that continue to need increased financial support. As daunting as the coming years may seem in a recession, I'm blessed to have the opportunity to see first-hand how generous and supportive our community is. Thank you.