By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
In the past month, Bowling Green City Schools sent all its fifth graders to camp – regardless of their families’ ability to pay. School bus drivers transported victims of an apartment fire to safe shelter. Toiletry items were discreetly given to students in need. Community members donated nearly $11,000 to help with school supplies, library books and the orchestra program. Students were recognized for stellar sports seasons. And staff is gearing up for the annual Dear Santa program to make sure students have holidays they deserve.
“Focus on this positivity and pass it on wherever you go,” Board of Education President Jill Carr said last week at the beginning of the school board meeting.
School buses to the rescue
Bowling Green Mayor Mike Aspacher thanked the school district – especially transportation director Toby Snow – for helping during an apartment fire in the city.
“It was a frightening situation,” the mayor said during the school board meeting. The fire division quickly extinguished the blaze, but smoke throughout the multi-story structure meant that more than 40 residents had to be evacuated – many with mobility issues.
The Red Cross set up a shelter at the community center, and the city called Snow to see if school buses could be used to transport the residents.
Snow responded immediately, Aspacher said.
“He said, ‘What do you need? What can I do to help?’” the mayor said of Snow.
Buses and a handicapped accessible van were sent to the apartment complex to transport the residents to the shelter. When the apartments were cleared and residents were allowed to return, Snow and other drivers transported them back to their homes the same evening.
“In a time of need, residents of Bowling Green chip in,” Aspacher said.
The willingness of the bus drivers to help reflects the culture of the district, the mayor said.
“Toby, thank you so much for being there for the Bowling Green community in a time of need,” Aspacher said.
Back to camp – finally
After fifth grade camp was canceled due to COVID during the last two years, the annual program was back on the road this year. Because Heartland camp no longer wanted to accommodate large groups due to COVID, Bowling Green students went to Camp Michindoh in Michigan.
Conneaut fifth grade teacher Bob Marzola and Middle School library media specialist Heather Fallis regaled those at the board meeting with their stories of camp this year.
The five-day camp began each morning with a 6:30 a.m. wake up call, followed by experiences that can’t be offered in regular classrooms. Students learned archery, challenged themselves on climbing walls, held reptiles and creepy crawly creatures, built shelters, gathered aquatic life, went canoeing, and learned how to navigate using low-tech compasses.
“You can’t recreate things like that in the classroom,” Marzola said.
Many students who swore they would never touch – let alone hold – a snake or tarantula, found themselves doing just that.
“They overcame their fears,” Marzola said.
The classes chosen for the fifth graders were selected because they built on lessons from their classrooms, offered different opportunities, and helped them grow as people.
Fallis explained the thrill of seeing students struggle productively, succeed, and cheer each other on.
The district and community donors helped pay for the camp experience for those students whose families cannot. Both Fallis and Marzola talked about some students’ reaction to the generous buffet offered at every meal.
“They are overwhelmed seeing that much food,” Marzola said. “It fills your heart and hurts your heart at the same time.”
Fallis shared about one student who asked her what the croutons were on the salad section of the buffet.
She also talked about the cabins, which had grasshoppers traversing through them.
“One student said, ‘This is nicer than my home. Do I have to go back?’” Fallis said.
In addition to learning new skills, the campers encounter new experiences.
“We make their worlds a lot bigger,” Fallis said.
Care Portal and Bobcat Basics
Kaitlyn Frisch and Felicia Boyd shared two ongoing efforts to meet the basic needs of Bowling Green students and their families.
Bowling Green Middle School students started the BG Bobcat Basics program, which provides school supplies, personal hygiene and home essentials, and clothing to students in need. The program has expanded to meet the needs of students at every grade level in the district.
Students can go to any school staff they trust to tell of their needs at home, and the Bobcat Basics program will help discreetly, Boyd said.
The program also supplies individually wrapped snacks to classrooms.
“It’s kind of hard to focus when you’re hungry,” Boyd said.
“We’ve received really generous donations,” she said. “It’s really been a team effort to get these items to the kids.”
Frisch talked about the Care Portal program which works to connect families to local services. The program has built partnerships with local community organizations, churches and businesses willing to help.
Groups enroll as “community champions” through the Care Portal.
In the first month and a half of this school year, 22 referrals have been made, including for nine homeless families, Frisch said.
“This is going to be a very helpful resource for our community,” she said.
Dear Santa…
Coordinators of the Dear Santa program, Kenwood teachers Kisha Nichols and Jennifer Ostrowski, presented their annual pitch for community help in making the holidays cheerful for students and families in need.
Last year, approximately $43,800 was raised, allowing the program to help 49 families with a total of 138 children.
The Dear Santa program was started 15 years ago in Bowling Green by Jim and Dee Szalejko.
Donations to the Dear Santa program may be sent through Venmo to Dear-Santa, or through PayPal to donate@dearsantasociety.org. Donors should note that the contributions are for the BG Chapter. Families seeking assistance may contact the program at The Dear Santa Society, P.O. Box 513, Bowling Green, Ohio, 43402, or emailed to dearsantabg@gmail.com.
Ongoing needs
School board member Ginny Stewart talked about the ongoing basic needs of students in the district.
“Every month, without fail, I hear from every principal,” about needs at each building.
A current pressing need is the negative lunch balance. The district does not turn hungry students away, so the current balance is close to $1,000 in the red.
“It’s not that they don’t want to pay, they can’t,” Stewart said of the families unable to pay for student lunches.
The community continues to be very generous, with donations of $10,679 in the past month for a variety of needs.
The donations included such items as a cello for the orchestra program, sleeping bags for the fifth grade camp, school supplies, new clothing for students, sticker books, and money for library books.
“We cannot thank our community enough for the continued support,” Superintendent Francis Scruci said.
