School booster club needs a boost

Flathead-Glacier group needs new members, leaders

It has been a long year for boosters in the Kalispell School District.

It began with a bang in August, with the excitement of a new school year and new activities.

The Flathead/Glacier Booster Club introduced a new fun-run fundraiser in September, a jewelry sale in November and hosted its usual barbecues at Legends Stadium throughout the high-school football season.

"We kind of went into it this year full of energy," club president Nancee Olszewski said.

But shortly into the new school year, the energy - and the economy - began to fizzle. The booster club hasn't raised as much money for high-school activities as it has in years past, and its membership is flagging.

Olszewski and the other members of the booster club's board of directors hope to halt the decline, beginning at the club's annual meeting Monday night.

The meeting, which will bring members up to speed on the past year's events and allow the club to elect new officers, begins at 6 p.m. in the Flathead High School conference room.

The entire community is welcome to attend. Olszewski hopes to attract people who will bring fresh enthusiasm to the group, particularly to the board of directors.

Four board members, all of whom have served terms longer than the three years they originally signed up for, are resigning, she said. That will leave 10 members on a board that has room for 19. The board has never had a full roster, Olszewski said, but 10 is a new low.

Membership has declined, too, primarily because of the economy. People who lost their jobs or whose spouses were laid off no longer had time to support the club. The boosters are down about 80 members from last year, Olszewski said.

"We had multiple members quit this last year just because their circumstances changed," she said. "That was hard."

There are 217 booster club members, representing families from Flathead and Glacier high schools. That is perhaps a quarter of the families whose kids participate in activities at the high schools.

Neither high school keeps track of how many youths actually participate in activities. Instead the activities directors keep tabs on "participation opportunities," or the number of slots available in activities.

Flathead has 1,050 slots, activities director Frank Jobe said. Glacier has 1,296 participation opportunities, according to activities director Mark Dennehy.

That probably works out to about 500 individual students at each school, since several participate in more than one activity, Dennehy said.

Last fall, the booster club gave each high school $32,000 to split among its activities, Jobe said. Most of the money was used to pay for students' meals on road trips; booster club funds cover meals on the first day of most multi-day road trips.

This is a departure from past years, when booster club money paid for "frosting-on-the-cake" items such as video systems, Dennehy said. In recent years, the club has opted to meet students' practical needs. In addition to covering lunches, the booster club maintains a scholarship fund to help students who might not otherwise be able to afford the district's pay-to-play fees.

The club might not be able to help as many kids next fall; its funds are $5,000 to $7,000 short of where they were last year, Olszewski said.

One of the group's largest fundraisers is its annual auction, which is scheduled each fall around home football games and Griz games. About 190 people attended the auction last October, compared with 240 people the year before, Olszewski said. Of those, 77 bought items compared to 117 the year before.

Donations to the auction were down as well, Olszewski added.

"Some significant donors said they just couldn't swing it this year. Several donors just said no, no more," she said.

She said part of the problem might be "donor fatigue." The sheer volume of requests wears on community members and businesses, she said.

That's one reason the booster club opted to stay united when the district opened a second high school, Olszewski added. She doesn't anticipate splitting the club any time soon.

"I don't know in this economic climate if it would be wise to separate," she said. "I don't see it going that way."

Despite the threat of fatigue, many people have continued to give what they can.

"We have a lot of awesome donors," Olszewski said. "They give a lot, but they just couldn't give as much this year."

For additional information about the booster club, contact the high school activity offices or visit www.sd5.k12.mt.us/ghs/act/booster/index.html.

Reporter Kristi Albertson may be reached at 758-4438 or by e-mail at kalbertson@dailyinterlake.com.