DARRINGTON When Darrington School District Superintendent Larry Johnson asked employee Linn Brooks to think outside the box for sources of funding for their schools, Brooks found her inspiration inside the box, from the TV show Deal or No Deal.
Brooks, who works as a cafeteria secretary, a clerk and a ticket manager for the Darrington Elementary School, was watching the show one night when she realized how much she could do with $1 million, not only for the schools, but also for the rest of the community.
Brooks has since submitted an application to Deal or No Deal, asking for the opportunity to play for my town, and explaining that she comes from a town of approximately 1,400, of which 584 are children currently attending their schools.
While Brooks wish list began with a goal of $30,000 to fund field trips and class supplies for the Darrington schools, her work in the Darrington Community Center inspired her to identify the need for a $12,000 heating and fan system, an $8,000 kitchen remodel and a $5,000 speaker system for that facility. Her time as a volunteer at the Darrington Family Support and Resource Center motivated her to ask $10,000 for their family events.
Eventually, Brooks wound up with a wish list totaling $140,000, with $5,000 each set aside for the Whitehorse Community Center, the Mansford Grange, the Darrington High School Class of 2007, the Darrington public and school libraries, and the Darrington Clinic. In addition, $1,000 each would be reserved for the Ashley Griffiths, Brooks Family, Darrington Alumni and Dylan Lewis Scholarship Funds, the Funeral Dinner Ladies, Darrington Boys and Girls Basketball, Darrington Baseball, the Darrington Junior Athletics Association, the Darrington Parent Teacher Student Association, and the Darrington Bluegrass and Rodeo Associations, and $10,000 would go to the town of Darrington itself.
Brooks identified specific needs, not wants, for each recipient on her wish list, from field trips and facility improvements to other events and supplies, as a result of her active involvement with many of those groups. While she waits for the shows producers to get back in touch with her, the producers of KING-5s Evening Magazine have requested copies of her application, as well as some of the illustrations that students have drawn, showing how their schools would use the money from Deal or No Deal.
If anyone deserves to win this, its her, said Darrington Elementary Principal Brian Carter of Brooks. Shes a school administrator with a heart of gold, and I dont doubt shed keep her promises and put her money where her mouth is. People in Darrington are all about helping one another during the down times, and were dealing with some down times right now. These kids are so appreciative, even of little things.
As for Brooks herself, her letter to the Deal or No Deal producers asserted that, when schools budgets get cut, we all lose, but most of all, our kids lose. They lose staff, they lose supplies, and in a small town, they lose field trips and outings, to see and experience things they may have never seen or dreamed of.
Brooks requested that the shows producers to take a moment and think back to your school experiences, your favorite teacher, a class you really enjoyed, [anything] that still comes to mind and makes you smile, before asking them, What can we do to help, [to] pass that on to your child, children, niece, nephew, cousin, brother, sister?