I've heard great things about IslandWood as well. I'd definitely be interested in participating in a discussion on the selection process. I also agree that this program presents a terrific opportunity for kids to connect with nature.
However, I'm not sure I'm sold on making it an annual event. I appreciate the way that the current structure allows opportunities for interaction between 4th and 5th grade students. If it were to occur annually, would both grades be included, or would it be just for 5th graders?
If the idea is to make it an annual event only for 5th grade students, then I would guess that we would lose some of the economies of scale and the per-student cost would be somewhat higher.
If the idea is to make it an annual event including both grades (so that students would get two opportunities to participate) then I would be leery of the supporting the necessary fundraising in light of the need to fund other programs at the school as well, unless OEO could be funded through some sort of external funding source (i.e. a grant).
I realize that OEO is mostly self-supporting in as far as it has it's own fundraising efforts to cover scholarships. However, the target audience of those fundraising efforts has a huge degree of overlap with the general PTA fundraising efforts. I fear that funds raised to support OEO to some degree diminish the pool available for general PTA fundraising (e.g. the Annual Fund).
In short, I would support putting an annual OEO trip on the school's "wish list" to be prioritized with all other programs. If I were setting the priorities, this would fall somewhere below funding Powerful Writers, a computer lab resource, transportation for after-school activities and many of the other things that the PTA currently is being asked to fund. Of course that's just my opinion.
scottplan 1206103656|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover
