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This year the Willard L Bowman school
community engaged in a year-long
fundraising project for our neighbors
Huffman Fire Station #9. Our school set
a
goal early in the school year to purchase
a
Bullard T-3 Thermal Imager. This remarkable
piece of technology is a hand held
device that enables a firefighter to 'see'
thermal images even in a smoke-darkened
building. The Thermal Imager is
credited with saving many civilian as well
as firefighter's lives. The cost of this
device
is $10,000 so our task was enormous.
Our school began the project by forming
a school business partnership with
KTUU Channel 2. Channel 2 has been
raising money for Thermal Imagers community
wide for several years. Their goal
being that every fire station in Anchorage
has one. Channel 2 allowed us to save
our money as we raised it in their established
"Fire Fighter’s Fund".
We next challenged all of our classes
to participate in the fund raising efforts
for
Fire Station #9. It is our belief that
by having
all of our children participate in the
project, everyone would learn first hand
about important developmental assets
such as, "community values youth" and "youth
have meaningful and useful roles".
Our newest school business partnership,
Huffman Lowe’s, took on our challenge
immediately and seeded our project
with a generous gift of $1,000. This donation
coincided with the opening of the
new store so many community members
participated in the celebration along with
Bowman staff and many of our firefighters. |
Bowman’s school business partner,
The Alaska MacStore, generously
matched Lowe’s contribution of $1,000 to
support our school and our brave firefighters.
We then received more generosity
and spirit of community from Little Gym,
South Side Bistro, Huffman Chevron and
the Miners and Trappers Association.
School business partner, The Alaska Zoo,
donated an art piece of Maggie the elephant’s
footprint in Bowman school colors.
Arctic Art donated the framing and donations
were raised through a silent auction.
With our community’s support, we were
well on our way to our goal.
Our classes became creative as they
worked to raise money for our friends at
Fire Station #9. Some classes put out
money jars and collected change. Two
kindergarten classes made gift tags,
which they sold during the holidays at
Lowe’s. One kindergarten delivered mail
within the school and donated their efforts.
One, fourth grade class made pizzas and
sold them to staff. Fifth graders sold
beef
jerky.
The combination of efforts mentioned
above raised almost $6,000. Channel 2
then combined donations from the community
to complete our effort. The result
was a school-wide assembly where all
WL
Bowman students and staff, members of
Fire Station #9, Channel 2 came together
in celebration of song and performance
to
present Fire Station #9 with a brand
new,
Bowman blue, Bullard T-3 Thermal Imager.
Embroidered into the hand strap is the
name Bowman so every time a firefighter
takes this valuable piece of equipment
into a life saving situation, they can
remember this gift from their young friends
up the road. |
