PORT TOWNSEND — Party-thrower Danny Milholland and school superintendent Linda Rosenbury plan a whole different kind of school day this weekend.
The community-wide PT School Party — for students, parents, teachers, staff and neighbors — will tumble across the Blue Heron Middle School track, field and commons from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, bringing with it games, arts and crafts, hula hoops, sidewalk chalk, bubble wands, clam chowder and cookies. All of this is free and organized by Milholland’s nonprofit Production Alliance.
“Focusing on celebrating our youth and our teachers is central,” Milholland said.
“Obviously, we’re not completely clear of COVID, but it does feel like the storm is breaking and spring is coming.”
Rosenbury became superintendent of the Port Townsend School District about a year into the pandemic. This past January, she approached the Production Alliance to talk about a party for and about her district’s students and staff.
Once the alliance was engaged, Milholland and his team began talking with youngsters across grade levels: What activities should we have? How can we make it fun for everybody?
Next came the invitations to people around town who had something to bring to the party.
“We heard lots of yeses,” Milholland said. Chef Arran Stark said yes to preparing his signature Northwest chowder. Madrona MindBody Institute will lead the yoga. A “kindness mural,” a relay race, parachute and field pong games, gratitude letters and poetry were added to the mix.
Blue Heron Middle School, at 3939 San Juan Ave., proved to be ideal. It’s centrally located, flat, on the Jefferson Transit bus route and has a decent amount of parking, said Production Alliance development director Megan Claflin.
Some rain and wind are in the forecast, Milholland acknowledged. The alliance has several large tents lined up.
He’s borrowed tent weights from the Jefferson County Farmers Market, which opens in Port Townsend on April 2.
“We do have the cafeteria area and the gymnasium reserved for the event,” he added, though he’ll wait to decide which events need to be moved indoors.
Rosenbury, for her part, noted that the PT School Party will take place right after the lifting of the state’s indoor-masking mandate. Her district will continue to encourage masks inside school buildings, she said.
Above all, the superintendent hopes for a joyful day of play — one her staff didn’t have to organize.
“I’m looking forward to seeing families and students and staff outside the school context, having fun as people,” she said.
Rosenbury added she hasn’t yet met some of the local celebrities who’ll be there Saturday, such as Stark and DJ Lunch Lady. There are other people she’s only met in Zoom meetings, so she’s ready to “see them in 3-D,” and not have to mention one thing about work.
The federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) program paid for the PT School Party, which Rosenbury said will cost about $5,000.
ESSER, in providing $5 million over three years, is also funding the Port Townsend School District’s Summer Blast program of free academic help for first- through 12th-graders. The program will expand this summer, she said, adding she’s starting to recruit staff for it now. Students in elementary and middle school will be able to sign up for academic intervention and enrichment during the Summer Blast; high-schoolers will have a chance to recover credits during the summer.
Classes will include activities such as skateboard design and graphic novel writing, while the school district partners with Northwind Art, the Northwest Maritime Center and the Olympic Peninsula YMCA. More about the Summer Blast will be sent out to parents at the end of the month, Rosenbury said.
As for Saturday, the Production Alliance is ready to host a party for 300 guests.
The theme, said Claflin, is simple.
“Joy is a core value,” she said.
________
Jefferson County Senior Reporter Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-417-3509 or durbanidelapaz@peninsuladailynews.com.
Port Townsend’s Blue Heron Middle School will be the site of a community-wide outdoor party Saturday afternoon. (Diane Urbani de la Paz/Peninsula Daily News)