The Westview Foundation has split into three separate groups designed to better accommodate the needs of students, sport teams, clubs, and Westview Gold. The Westview Foundation focuses on all students and makes sure there are adequate resources for classes and academics while the Westview Athletic Foundation (WAF) provides support and resources for athletes, and Westview Gold Boosters covers band.
The Westview Foundation previously dealt with the funding of all of Westview’s groups, programs, sports and clubs. However, meeting the needs of Westview students while also doing all of the additional work from clubs and sports teams became overwhelming. The former foundation president, Rhonda Faye, said that one reason the foundation was split was because of the immense workload put onto the single foundation treasurer, Corinne Cousar.
“Imagine all the groups and clubs and sports programs that there are; she processes all the donations that come through each sport program and group or club activity,” Faye said. “In addition to processing all donations and fundraiser payments she was issuing checks, processing reimbursements for banquets or any time somebody purchased something for a program and they needed to access their money.”
The Westview Foundation now has less on their plate with the creation of separate organizations for sports and band. The Westview Foundation’s new president, Jennifer Oesterblad, said the foundation is now able to focus more of their energy and resources on Westview’s student body and campus.
“Because we’re not thinking about the sports teams and we’re not thinking about the band, every penny that [we receive] we’re gonna put back into the school and make sure it’s balanced across all students in Westview,” Oesterblad said.
With this new narrow focus, the foundation was able to make changes this summer on campus.
“We were able to get [the staff lounge] fully painted and fixed,” Oesterblad said. “There were holes in the wall and there was damaged wallpaper from leaking roofs, but the district was able to fix all of the leaks [in the roof}…The Westview Foundation provided funds for the removal of wallpaper, patching of holes and damage, paint and baseboards. The WAF coordinated the painter and crew to get the work done. On the wall, we had a muralist com in and [paint] ‘We are Westview’”
Additionally, the Westview Foundation funded black and gold to be painted in the space underneath the library and at sitting areas. Though they started with the staff lounge because of its tangible importance to both students and staff at Westview.
“We felt it was important to recognize both the students and the Westview staff,” Oesterblad said. “This space is used by many teams for end-of-season awards dinners, so it made sense to provide something tangible that would help so many groups on campus.”
The Westview Foundation has also been working to fill in any gaps left by recent budget cuts in the district. Oesterblad said the foundation is hoping to provide grants for teachers to request supplies that might be missing from the current budget.
“We want to make sure that [students] have all their resources, especially with the big budget cut,” Oesterblad said. “There’s a lot of money that is not coming into the school for things like basic supplies for some of those classes. So instead of working on an experiment with a tool, you might just have to visually look at it on the computer or imagine it. But if we could just buy those resources, then we can provide those things for the students to have and collaborate together.”
Oesterblad wants to really focus more this year on meeting the specific needs or requests of students to create a better school environment for all.
“We want students to come to school with an eagerness to be there and to learn new things each day,” Oesterblad said. “We also want them to be proud of their school, and to be respectful of the school property and of each other.”
