After being closed for one year, Pend Oreille Valley Adventist School (POVAS), located in Oldtown, Idaho, has rebounded and opened its doors again this school year. It boasts of an enrollment of 13 students in grades one through eight and is administered by head teacher Angela Fleck and her assistant, Debbie Nichols.
The supportive school board has helped to remodel the upstairs classrooms, provide additional computers, rejuvenate the landscaping and play area, and upgrade the school driveway. An active home and school committee is in place. Volunteers have stepped up to help in the areas of: custodial, classroom aide, PE teacher, craft teachers, math tutoring and technology setup.
The Haystack Shack, an annual fundraiser at the Pend Oreille County Fair, was headed this year by retired teachers Richard and Lorraine Wilson and their helpers. A record number of people attended the November Fall Festival, which raised $1,200 to help the school gym meet its occupancy code requirements. Other sources of income for the school include Newport (Wash.) Adventist Community Services and the POVAS school store.
The school held its Christmas program, called The Christmas Story, on Thursday, Dec. 19, 2013, to a full crowd at the Newport Church. The costumed students participated in singing a variety of Christmas songs interspersed with Biblical narration. They also performed "Joy to the World" and "Silent Night" on handbells — a new experience for most of them. Volunteers Ginger Brockman and Charlene Furman helped with the music.
Folks are excited that Adventist Christian education is again live and well in the Newport area.
A concert, dubbed The Christmas Story, was preformed by the Pend Oreille Valley Adventist School students in December 2013 at the Newport Church.
