Thank you to the volunteers and contributors who support our schools

The residents of Wayland have a long history of taking pride in our schools.  We frequently take a moment to credit our outstanding teachers for their efforts in guiding our children and teaching them well, and we should.  But, of course, the teachers can’t achieve this great success in a vacuum — just as important is the community that encourages our students and supplements the efforts of the schools themselves.

We would like you to join us in thanking those unsung heroes who linger behind the scenes and provide that backbone of support.  These are the parents who staff the booths at back to school night or deliver breakfast to thank our bus drivers and teachers, or who organize events, perhaps giving your child’s hair a last minute combing before photographs, or who chaperone late into the night on prom night.  Organizing all of these volunteers (and doing so much more) are the various support organizations that stand at the ready to help out however needed.

Foremost among those things these organizations do is raise funds and use them to help improve our schools and provide extra opportunities to our students.

• The Wayland Public Schools Foundation raised nearly $300,000 last year, and used those donations to fund purchases that would otherwise not have been possible.  Among their many purchases: robotics equipment, ergonomic furniture and programs for promoting cultural proficiency at the elementary schools, digital projectors and activity trackers at the Middle School, makerspace equipment and library STEAM stations at the High School.
• The Wayland Parent Teacher Organization raised nearly $200,000 and funded projects across the school system, ranging from cultural enrichment activities to staff appreciation breakfasts to teacher supplies and wish list items.
• The Creative Arts Parent Association raises funds to support grants to the arts programs at the school.  Among their grants in the last school year were music lab software and metal works supplies for the art program.
  
• The Boston Parent Council raises funds to support the METCO program, including a contribution to the METCO scholarship fund, the annual MLK Jr Dinner and mentoring programs.
• The Wayland Boosters raised nearly $175,000 last year, funding items such as letter jackets, helmets, a web-based training program, and most prominently, the two mini buses serving the athletic programs.

The individuals leading these programs and contributing to them largely work quietly in the background, and don’t often get the notice or recognition they deserve.  We are reluctant to try to name or thank them personally now, as we would certainly inadvertently leave out some of the most deserving of these volunteer ninjas.

Please join us in thanking all those who work for these organizations that are working so diligently to make things better in our schools.  Undoubtedly, you will be hearing from some of them as they continue their efforts.  When you do, whether you are able to chip in on that particular effort or not, consider taking an extra moment to thank them for all that they do.

Submitted by the Wayland School Committee