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As many of you know, West Bonner County School District has implemented a dance program at the local elementary schools every year. Students learn swing, waltz, salsa, tango, Charleston, the Virginia Reel, and occasionally other dances. They also learn confidence, agility, dance etiquette, performance skills and appropriate attire. Sixth graders at Priest River Elementary learn how to choreograph their own routines.

This program is funded by grants from the Idaho Community Foundation, the Idaho Commission on the Arts, and donations. The Priest River Community Foundation has also provided funding in the past.

This year, the school district received more funds than the bare minimum necessary to fund the program, and we are able to purchase appropriate attire, especially for boys. However, grants require matching contributions from the community, and we find the girls’ section of our “dance closet” to be sadly lacking in really nice clothes to be used by children who forget their outfits on dance day, or simply don’t have the money to buy anything really nice. Therefore, we are asking the community to look in your children’s closets, and see whether there are nice, “gently used” dresses, skirts or blouses for girls, or nice dress shirts for boys, that are too small for anyone in your family and that you would be willing to donate to the dance program.

Donations can be brought to drop boxes at the front office at Priest River Elementary, Priest River Junior High, and Idaho Hill Elementary schools through March 30, from which they will be collected and tabulated as “in kind donations” toward the dance closet.

Thank you so much for your participation in this “gently used” clothing drive.

ANNE WILDER CHAMBERLAIN

Priest River