Education foundation provides a new way to support area schools 2 decks all the way acros

In public education’s current environment of rapid change, increasing expectations, and shrinking budgets, the newly launched Gunnison-Crested Butte Education Foundation is good news indeed. Gunnison Watershed RE1J has a new ally in its mission to educate valley youth, and our community has another effective way to support our schools.

The foundation went public in December at a reception for past supporters of Kids Kount and other local education activists.
Born of a merger between the existing education support organization, Kids Kount, and community members from throughout the valley who recognized the imperative to help the public schools, the foundation’s mission is “to support and advance our public schools by raising funds to provide students with an exceptional education that empowers all students to succeed at learning and life.”
In these economic times it is more essential than ever to invest in the future of our students and our community. Community leaders recognize the critical role education plays in the sustainability and vitality of the Gunnison Valley. The board of the Gunnison-Crested Butte Education Foundation believes that the citizens of the valley view our youngsters as a most precious resource and their education as paramount to the future of our community and any community to which a student educated in Gunnison County might one day move.
The foundation will use its resources to supplement the district budget, which means providing enrichment opportunities for students K-12 that the current district budget cannot accommodate. It does not intend to supplant the basic, statutory fiscal responsibilities incumbent upon the state of Colorado and the Gunnison RE1J School District board of education.
To do so, the foundation will raise funds and work collaboratively with other education supporters such as the Crested Butte Community School PTA, the Gunnison Community School PTA, the Crested Butte Enrichment Program, and the Gunnison High School Cowboy Round-Up.
The organization is the result of two years’ work by a steering committee consisting of Gail Digate, Kristi Hargrove, Jennifer Kennedy, Cannon Leatherwood, Tyler Martineau, Leia Morrison, Lee Olesen, Linda Olesen, Caren Carroll and Pam Montgomery. This group’s vision and hard work ensure that the organization launches with its fiduciary and organizational ducks in a row.
A special thanks is due to past and present members of Kids Kount for the thousands of dollars of support they have provided the schools to date, and for building an endowment that will pass to the newly merged organization providing a financial base for the future.
A board of directors—Lance Betts, Gail Digate, Kristi Hargrove, Anne Hausler, Nick Herrin, Matthew Kuehlhorn, Stephanie Juneau, Cannon Leatherwood, Lee Olesen with Pam Montgomery as an advisor—took over the reins. This board will lead the Gunnison-Crested Butte Education Foundation under the fiscal sponsorship of the Community Foundation of the Gunnison Valley, which also served Kids Kount in a similar capacity.