School Superintendent Mathew Miller beamed with a level of enthusiasm that has since permeated staff and brought the grant writing team to tears.

"We are absolutely thrilled about receiving this good news. We want to express our deep gratitude to Community Resource Development, and the team they put together for successfully writing and submitting this grant,"he said.

The award is called a 21st Century Community Learning Center grant. It is federally funded and administered through the State Department of Education. The period for the grant commenced in July and allows for the creation of a full time project director, two site coordinators and academic assistants.

A director has been hired, and the goal is to have all positions filled along with completion of program readiness soon after the start of the school year.

The district had pursued this award in the past. It has been available twice before over the last four years. But the third time was a charm, and it was no accident.

This time around, the grant writing team went into their task seasoned and well-schooled. They had been to training sessions that supplied technical assistance for the process supplied by the state. The team members themselves had personal connections with the school. This time, there were more programs in place, up and running and showing signs of success. They involved tutoring, mentoring and volunteering. Amy Derrer, the school's liaison to the Ironmen Health Center, mentoring coordinator and member of the grant writing team also cited one other important factor in this attempt's success.

"Gary Knapp's experience in writing grants and his concern for our school as director of the Family Resource Center was invaluable,"Derrer said.

Along with Derrer and Knapp, the team consisted of Kristin Kloc-Witt, Kim Musselman, Amy Burk and Shelly Meeder. This staff will work directly with the school to develop and implement new programs. They will also support existing before and after school, summer and weekend programs and services.

According to Superintendent Miller, the work of this committee and the subsequent award, "will allow us to open our school doors to children, youth and families for extended day and summer programs to ensure that more of our youth graduate and succeed in life, to reduce juvenile delinquency problems, and to promote our long-standing commitment to becoming a full service school.Ó

After an extensive interview process, Pami Sprague was hired as the project director. She is a mother of two sons who are Mancelona students, and has worked at the Ironmen Health Center since its inception.

"[Sprague] has the gift of compassion and a passion for our kids. She is committed to this program and our community. She is someone who will be there for the long haul,"Derrer said.

For Director Sprague, her first priority will be getting to know the needs of staff and students and to just be available. "We want to earn the trust and respect from the students, staff and community for the legitimacy of this program,"she said.

She plans to roll out the program's "Choose Success"team in early October that will consist of "Welcome Centers"and a site coordinator in every building that can identify needs and make referrals as well as educate families and support existing programs.

"Choosing success means not just in school but also with families,"Sprague noted.

Each school building will sport a banner that says, "Mancelona Kids: Our #1 Priority. Valued, Loved, and Protected."

Sprague seems to be driven by the same impetus that inspired writing for the grant in the first place.

"Our area has a high level of poverty and families with hardships. That has been identified through surveys and has been confirmed by teachers and administration. They need help and due to school funding cuts, we needed to look elsewhere for funding,"Sprague said. "We also want to support our educators in every way possible so they are spending more time teaching. At the same time, it is important that we inspire our kids to raise their expectations and set higher goals that go beyond high school graduation."

Derrer, also a Mancelona parent, school board member and coach, cited an existing program that is part of the "Community in Schools"effort that exemplifies the vision for this new era.

"From eighth grade on each of our students will visit at least one college campus. We want them to see what is out there,"Derrer said. "This grant will assure that the program will continue and even expand."

For Mancelona students, families and staff, there are new mountains to climb, and the funding is there to take the district and even the entire community to new heights. Before school programs and after school programs that offer fun activities, nutrition and homework assistance will be there. Weekend programs that include opportunities for whole families are in the plan. Even summer day camps at enrichment centers like Cedar Bend Farms are in the immediate future. And it is the word "future"that is providing the strong pulsing heart of this amazing new opportunity.

Jeff Kessler can be reached at perkins90@hotmail.com.