Donors come through for Wrenshall School

Wrenshall School opened Tuesday with 344 students - much to the delight of district officials, who projected enrollment at 315 earlier in the year.

It was the latest piece of good news for a district that just two years ago was in financial turmoil.

Momentum for the district appears to be building in other ways, too.

In August, the district's teachers saw more than $6,300 in requests fulfilled during an online fundraising campaign.

"I have goosebumps just thinking about how emotional I felt seeing everyone's generosity," said Chloe Swanson, a fourth-year teacher in the district.

Swanson teaches media production and photojournalism at the school. Last year, the students mostly used smartphones to conduct photo and video assignments and create images for the school yearbook.

At the end of last school year, Swanson was "past burnt out," she said. But she still wanted to better the experiences of her students, so she posted a wish list of equipment on DonorsChoose - a website where teachers seek funding for projects.

It's recommended that teachers not ask for more than $1,000, but Swanson went for it all, posting for $4,825 worth of equipment, including a Sony Cinema Line camera, lenses to go with it, microphones and cables to connect it all.

"You have to have one to have the other," she said. "I wanted to have the high quality equipment these students deserve for their media education - for them to be able to become professional in the industry, if they choose to."

The campaign was languishing until Aug. 14. That was the day the Gates Foundation would match any donation. Teachers shared their requests and the power of social media took over. Wrenshall graduates, families with students and without, people in the media field and community members started filling the virtual coffers with donations.

"It was like we were about to win the Super Bowl," Swanson said, recalling her excitement that day. "It was so unbelievable. I was blown away by the number of people who donated to the project."

In all, 37 donors helped to bring the new technology into Swanson's classroom.

"It's so high quality and high tech I don't know how to use it yet," Swanson said. "But I'm itching to get it into the students' hands."

Several other, less spendy projects within the school were also funded, including:

• Materials to enhance social studies and science curriculums.

• An aquarium for a bearded dragon that's a classroom pet.

• Cushions to replace threadbare ones that surrounded a "very low" classroom table students enjoy sitting around.

• The Spoon Series of books one of the teachers wanted to use at the start of the new school year.

• A meeting rug that serves as a central place in one of the teacher's classrooms.

School board member Ben Johnson highlighted the Donors Choose efforts during a recent school board meeting.

"I continue to be amazed by the generosity of our Wrenshall community to support the students and staff here at Wrenshall School," Johnson told the newspaper.

Johnson is familiar with fundraising efforts in the school. He spearheaded the drives to raise money for new scoreboards in the gymnasium and on the football field.

And now, Swanson can relate. She described the fundraising efforts as a perfect example of how the Wrenshall community can have a small school feel while delivering high quality materials essential to a top-of-the-line education.

"Public education has been struggling," Swanson said. "It was just so refreshing to see that outpouring of support from people I knew and some I didn't even know who are proud of Wrenshall and their experiences and wanted to give back.

"It speaks so much to the Wrenshall legacy and everything we do here. I feel very fortunate to be a part of that."