Help build strong foundation for Valley education

You wouldn’t expect a mechanic to fix your car without the proper tools, nor would you expect a carpenter to show up at a job site without a hammer. Yet these are similar positions some Mat-Su Borough School District students find themselves in at the start of another school year.

Whether family finances are too tight or it is simple neglect of their children’s education, there are students who show up to begin another term of education without some of the basic tools essential to their learning. These are basic staples, like pencils, pens, notebook paper, crayons, glue, scissors and backpacks.

Back-to-school time is exciting. It’s a time when students can reconnect with old friends, make new ones and finally wear those new school clothes. There’s nothing like coloring with sharp, unbroken crayons and putting pen to paper again to write about “What I Did This Summer.”

For students who have no new clothes or supplies, what should be excitement over a new year of learning can turn to dread and embarrassment.

That’s why the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman has been proud to sponsor Foundations for the Future, an annual school supply drive that distributes these basic education needs to dozens of Valley schools each year. School’s in session again and Foundations for the Future is in full swing.

But we need more.

Last year, the program provided supplies to deserving students at more than 40 Mat-Su Borough schools ranging from the elementary to high school level. As a community effort, every pencil, piece of paper, backpack or glue stick finds its way to a Valley student. Teachers identify those in their classes with a need and nurses then pass on a list of students and supplies needed for their schools.

If you donate school supplies to Foundations for the Future every year, thank you. If you want to help for this school year, you’re not too late. In fact, many stores have buy-one-get-one-free sales that include school supplies.

Drop off school supplies at the Frontiersman’s Wasilla office at 5751 E. Mayflower Court, or at either of the Palmer or Wasilla Curves for Women outlets.

When you fill those school supplies lists, pencil in a little extra. It’s a small investment that pays huge dividends for education.

Feel privileged, vote

Speaking of paying huge dividends, voters have a chance to exercise their power at the ballot box on Tuesday. We know, you’re probably sick and tired of hearing newspapers preach the “get out and vote” message. To tell you the truth, we’re a little tired of having to deliver it.

But it’s important, too important to not give another nudge as Tuesday’s primary election approaches. Get out and vote. While primaries are mostly partisan with Democrats voting for their own candidates to make the October general election ballot and Republicans doing the same, this year’s election also includes two important issues.

Voting is more than a right, it’s a privilege and responsibility. Following Tuesday’s primary, we hope to report on not only the results, but high Valley turnouts.