District 113A Boosters End Successful First Year of Fee-Based Extracurriculars

When a multi-million dollar budget deficit threatened to put a halt to Lemont-Bromberek Combined School District 113A’s extracurricular activities for its students, two community groups stepped up to save the clubs.

But neither the parent-formed Warrior Booster Club nor the Lemont Band Boosters, who implemented a plan to run fee-based after-school activites, knew if parents would be willing to foot the bill.

“We had no idea,” said Booster Club President Amy Kramer. “We got some feedback from a small group of people that said they’d be interested in paying. But we needed a lot of kids to sign up to cover the costs. We weren’t sure what was going to happen, but we felt strongly enough that it was worth a try. And amazingly it was.”

Hundreds of students signed up for the various activities that were offered at Old Quarry Middle School, with many of the students participating in multiple activities.

“We were very happy and a little bit surprised at how well it went and that people signed up and were willing to pay,” Kramer said. “It just goes to show that parents feel (extra-curriculars are) an important part of their kids lives and important for them to have in their middle school.”

Booster Club Secretary Brenda Douglass is happy the clubs could be saved.

“I think it’s been wonderful for the kids to have these things to go to after school,” she said. “It’s hard for me to imagine what the year would have been like without these things for the kids to participate in.”

She is thankful for the parents who also felt the activities were important.

“It was a little bit of a leap of faith on their part,” Douglass said. “This was a new thing for everyone. And we’re also very thankful for the School Board and administration working with us.”

The saving of the extra-curriculars also earned Old Quarry some bragging rights during the school year.

In May, the Scholastic Bowl team placed fourth at the Illinois Elementary School Association State Finals. Last fall, the girls cross country team finished 13th out of 27 schools, with five of their seven runners setting personal best times.

“(The students) were so close to not even getting to participate at all,” Kramer said. “It was nice to see they got to participate and the school had something to be proud of.”

The boosters are already looking ahead to the next school year’s extra-curricular offerings, especially now that the closing of Central School is sending the fifth-grade students to Old Quarry.

“We want to add activities for them,” Kramer said. “Those are things we’re going to look at while we figure out a budget.”

Once the programs are in place, Douglass encourages parents to heed the set cut-off dates for registration. She said during the current school year there was some confusion by parents who did not sign up their children in time.

“We didn’t like being the bad guy,” Douglass said. “We want all the kids to participate. So a good rule of thumb is if you think it’s something your child wants to do, sign them up for it. If you choose not to do it we refund the money.”