WSR PTSA Family Fun night today

The Parents Teachers and Students Association of the William S. Reyes Elementary School is inviting everyone to join them in today’s Family Fun Night on the campus grounds. The fundraising event starts at 4:30pm and ends on 9:30pm.

PTSA president Ed Arriola and treasurer See Cabrera said proceeds of the annual event would help fund school repairs and other needed projects. Ray Austin is the PTSA vice president, while Calle Eichenberger is the secretary.

“It is a public event and we are inviting everyone to come out and join us for a night of entertainment, food, music, and raffle prizes,” said Cabrera.

Admission is free and no cash purchases are allowed, instead cash could be exchanged for tickets in an assigned booth for you to be able to purchase items and join the raffle. Dora The Explorer, Whimsy The Rabbit, and Po The Panda will also be joining the fun and games.

Arriola said one of their projects is to build a special waiting area to ensure the safety of the kids with WSR being one of the most heavily populated elementary schools on the island. He said that they are trying to avoid any abduction incident that could happen in any school.

“We are trying to meet a lot of goals for this year and one of them is to build a special waiting area for parents in the north, central, and south wings of the school. WSR is a heavily populated school so we want to make sure the kids are safe,” said Arriola.

He even recalled last year’s incident involving a group that approached some WSR students to follow them after school, which in turn was a social experiment project for their school. The incident created quite a stir in the community.

“It was only a social experiment but it was really alarming. There has to be a segregated location between students, their parents, and people who are not part of the school. Teachers and staff could not watch the kids all the time, so to prevent that from happening is to have a designated waiting area,” Arriola added.

“So nobody can just wander around the school premises. It is much safer for everyone since there’s an area where the kids will go to meet their parents, who are waiting for them there. It will be secured and comfortable, plus there would always people in that area and you could see everyone.”

Arriola said WSR is one of the highest-rated elementary schools on Saipan. “The students there are great, and the teachers and staff are all dedicated with their jobs just like all public schools on the island.”