ORANGE COUNTY PERSPECTIVE : A Community Boost for Schools

As the buses start to roll and the pencils get sharpened across Orange County at the start of a new school year, two schools in Fountain Valley and Costa Mesa are already reaping the benefits of community involvement. The examples are worthy of imitation elsewhere.

Fountain Valley High School is finding a silver lining in catastrophe, the $200,000 damage done to the gym by vandals in July. Businesses in the city are contributing funds to help pay the $25,000 not covered by insurance. They have taken matters in hand with raffle tickets, a scheduled fund-raising dinner and a rummage sale to raise money to help pay for the new gym floor.

In Costa Mesa, several dozen parents and scores of students spent a Saturday cleaning up the Paularino Elementary School. A father with three children at the school helped organize the cleanup and struck just the right note when he said the children would appreciate their school more if they had to clean it.

Elementary school is a good time to start teaching teamwork and values and to demonstrate the willingness of parents to help out with their children’s education. School budgets grow ever tighter and the burdens on teachers to juggle paperwork, counseling and instruction increase each year. They need all the help they can get from the community.