Among the treasures Vashon Island offers us — natural beauty, creative spirit, and tight-knit community — our school district rises to the top.

Vashon Island School District has instilled a love of learning in generations of islanders and drawn many new families to the island in recent years—including my own. It is a gift worth standing up for, and on May 6 and 7, we need you to do just that.

Imagine your job is to support our schools’ most vulnerable families — and overnight, your workload surges as these families are swept into a national policy crisis. Or imagine you’re a teacher, working tirelessly to help students still struggling to catch up in math and reading after COVID-related school closures. In both cases, the need for extra support is immediate and real. That’s why the Vashon Schools Foundation is calling on our community to step up during the GiveBIG fundraising campaign and help provide the essential resources our teachers and families urgently need.

Your donation to VSF during GiveBIG will directly fund two positions that support academic success and help our most vulnerable families access the resources they need. We are calling on our community to help us raise $80,000 and make a transformative investment in every student’s success.

With your support, VSF will fund an additional Multilingual Learner Family Engagement Coordinator, who serves as a crucial bridge between our schools and families that are multilingual or Spanish-speaking.

“My caseload has increased exponentially since I started four years ago,” said Nidia Sahagun, the district’s current Family Engagement Coordinator. “I know the families, and I have their trust. I know the services that Vashon offers.”

Sahagun connects more than 40 families to resources such as food, health care, language translation, academic tutoring, technology, childcare and direct communication with school staff. Teachers say her work is invaluable.

“The first thing that Nidia helps us do is just communicate with families,” said Manda McCoy, kindergarten teacher at Chautauqua Elementary School. “Maybe a family doesn’t have the [parent communication app], or maybe they registered for school with an email and they aren’t answering. Nidia is who we go to.”

Sahagun also runs a bilingual reading club pairing elementary students with volunteers, and a middle-school Latino leadership club.

“My hours are 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., but families call me at 7:30 a.m. with questions about the bus, and on the weekends too,” Sahagun said. ‘Back-to-school time is especially overwhelming — how to fill out forms for free and reduced price lunch, where is the food bank, how to connect with health care and Vashon Youth and Family Services. There are always more families to serve.”

The second position that the Vashon Schools Foundation aims to fund next year is a Reading or Math Intervention educator — a role that has never been more essential.

“It was very obvious my child was struggling as a reader,” one parent said. “Spending more time reading to him was not helping. He entered the reading program this year, and it is helping so much to have the targeted intervention. Last night there was a poetry reading. A year ago he was so visibly unsure. This year he just found poems in books and went on stage to read them. It was so wonderful.”

Another parent, whose child receives math support, told me that her son is a “more confident and happy kid” after receiving extra math support, “and he no longer comes home telling us how stupid he is.”

More of this kind of support is needed.

Nationwide and on Vashon, students and schools continue to feel the lasting effects of pandemic-related learning loss. National data shows sharp declines in reading and math achievement, and Vashon students are no exception; many are still working hard to catch up to grade level. Foundational skills in reading and math don’t just unlock academic success — they empower students to fully engage in the rich opportunities Vashon schools offer, from arts and music to sports and advanced coursework.

Every gift to the Vashon Schools Foundation during GiveBIG, no matter the size, directly funds these two vital positions. It is not just the responsibility of the school board, district staff or teachers to hold the line. It’s up to all of us.

Strong schools benefit all of us. They strengthen our local economy, protect home values, and create a vibrant, connected community. But today, educational funding is more at risk than ever, and our school district is feeling the strain. The State of Washington does not fully fund critical positions like math and reading intervention staff, substitute teachers, paraeducators, custodians, or extra-curricular programs in the arts, music, and sports. As costs rise and state support falls short, proposed federal budget cuts may add even more uncertainty to an already stretched system.

The need is urgent — but the solution is clear. By donating to the Vashon Schools Foundation during this year’s GiveBIG campaign, you can step up, invest in what matters most, and show that even in hard times, this community shows up for its kids.

Kara Weber is a member of the Vashon Schools Foundation board of directors.