For years, Haines preschoolers have attended classes in an aging 1905-era building with numerous past lives – from U.S. Government school for Alaska Native children to headquarters for the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
Boilers give out, the basement floods, windows are covered for added insulation and preschoolers are forbidden to drink water from its rusting pipes.
Now, thanks to a collaboration between volunteers and the Haines Borough, the preschool is one step closer to leaving the stately two-story structure; the borough will receive a $150,000 grant to help relocate the Chilkat Valley Preschool.
The money, announced this week by the Rasmuson Foundation, is part of the $3.8 million in grants disbursed by the nonprofit to improve quality of life for Alaskans. The aim of the awards is to “strengthen communities, celebrate history, help seniors, children and other vulnerable Alaskans build more stable, productive lives,” according to the group’s press release.
In Haines, the award achieved all of those goals.
“It’s exciting news for both preschoolers and seniors,” said Ann Myren, who assisted in the fundraising and grant application for the project. “It’s great for the community.”
The local Solution for Everyone Committee has spearheaded a drive to raise $420,000 for the construction of the new school classroom – a 1,400-square-foot addition on the back of the Haines Senior Center. Under one roof, both facilities can share expenses and maximize resources.
Sierra Jimenez, co-chair of the Solution for Everyone Committee, said the $150,000 grant will pay for just a portion of the project cost. The rest, she said, has been raised by local grants and donors.
The fundraising is in its home stretch, with less than $14,000 remaining to be collected.
“We’re there,” said Jimenez. “It’s such a cool project – integrating preschoolers with seniors.”
Fellow committee co-chair Renee Hoffman said the group was formed a year ago to find a location to move preschoolers from what she said is the oldest building in Haines.
Hoffman, who once worked at the school as an office manager and had two of her own children attend classes there, celebrated news of the grant.
“I’m grateful and relieved,” she said. “It was a struggle to get to this point. So I can exhale personally and say ‘Alright! All this work has paid off.’”
She said she hopes to have the project completed for the 2017-2018 school year.
Haines Borough facilities director Brad Ryan said the borough assembly wants his office to sell the old building or trade it for other property here.
He’s anxious to get preschoolers out of the place. “It needs a lot of work,” he said. “It’s historic, but it has issues with its siding, foundation and roofing.”
Preschool teacher Alissa Henry said 14 children are enrolled this year but that number has risen to 24 in past years.
Past years have been a struggle. “It’s harder to heat an old building,” she said. “The basement has flooded. We had to put things on the windows. We have to haul our own water because we don’t drink from those old pipes.”
Henry is excited about moving into her new preschool digs, especially one in which children will share space with elderly residents in the Senior Center.
Students have previously visited the center on excursions. Now they won’t have to go as far.
“We’ve sung to residents and developed a buddy system so the elderly can read to the kids. We’ve also sung for them,” Henry said. “They were a few blocks away. Now that we’ll be in the same building, we hope to invite the seniors over to see plays we stage and see the books we’ve written.”