Polson school bond vote approaches By Kristi Niemeyer For the Valley Journal
POLSON — At Cherry Valley Elementary in Polson, the wriggly kindergarten and first grade students forming a line for recess are among those whose futures will be most impacted by votes cast in the next few weeks. After all, these kids are apt to spend the next 12 years learning, playing, and growing in the four schools encompassed by the Polson School District. District voters received ballots in the mail last week asking their support for bond measures that could, if approved, dramatically improve the educational environment for all the district’s students. At first glance, kids are thriving in the elementary school, built in 1963. In Kaitlyn Keniston’s
succeed. Bowen joined the staff at Cherry Valley in 2003 and loves working with this inquisitive, energetic age group. “There’s nothing better than the enthusiasm of first graders,” she says. “They’re very open minded and have no qualms about learning new things – they’re just ready to go.” John Gustafson, who taught at Linderman for seven years, and spent a year at Polson Middle School before becoming principal at Cherry Valley this year, admires the passion, patience and experience his teachers possess. Watching them instruct 20 little kids in a classroom “is a pretty spectacular thing,” he says. And yet, teachers accomplish this feat in a cramped building that’s almost 60 years old. Speech
KRISTI NIEMEYER
Children in Kaitlyn Keniston’s transitional kindergarten class master the alphabet, while also learning the skills necessary to flourish in school next year.
pathologists tutor students in the hallway, as their peers enter and exit adjacent classrooms. “Can you imagine trying to fine tune your speech when all this going on around you and you can’t hear the teacher talking to you?” Intervention specialists are in the same boat,
see page 6
60 Newspapers 1 low cost
TO K
2X2 $406 | 2x3 $650 | 2X4 $1,100 | 2X5 $1,500
REACH
SY OU NE ED ING
with a boiler salvaged from a Korean War-era ship. Windows glaze over with ice during the winter and rooms swelter as summer approaches. And despite the fact that Polson is growing, all four of the district’s schools “are packed to the gills” with
Montana’s statewide advertising network REACH 400,000+ readers each week
God’s desire is for all people to know Him and His plan of salvation. Your place in eternity, heaven or hell, depends on your belief in Jesus Christ who IS the Son of God.
TH
helping students who need extra support in hallways, closets, or in the room that also serves as gym and cafeteria, making it even harder to learn and teach. And then there’s the challenge of an aging facility, ill-equipped for 21st century education. Cherry Valley is heated
STATEWIDE ADVERTISING
“And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.” Hebrews 9:27
NO W
1 out of
pre-kindergarten class, four- and five-year-olds exuberantly practice their letter sounds before recess. The grant-funded pre-K program helps these 16 kids get a head start “so when they get to kindergarten they just fly,” says Keniston. A few doors down the hallway, first graders take turns reading aloud from “The Lost Treasure of Captain Kidd.” Veteran teacher Joanie Bowen counsels kids to “pause and stop and think at the end of every page. That’s what good readers do. They ask themselves questions, they write down what they think is important and they have opinions about what they read.” As they head out the door for recess, she urges them to be “quiet and respectful and kind all the way down the hall.” Most
THE
“For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Romans 6:23
2 X 2 ad measures 3.7” horizontal by 2” vertical
THERE IS LIFE AFTER DEATH To learn more join us at Lake City Baptist Church • 38907 MT HWY 35 406-465-8564 • Sunday service at 10:30 a.m. Valley Journal
406 FOR
406
$
April 20, 2022 - 5
