The Iola Rotary Club presented Scott Brady, assistant principal of Iola Middle School, a check for $2,000 at the club’s Thursday meeting. The funds are to help sponsor a trip to Washington, D.C. for Iola’s eighth-graders.
Brady is hoping to continue in Iola a tradition he started in 2017 in Humboldt, where he taught social science until this year. He’s taken students to the nation’s capital ever since, though the COVID-19 pandemic canceled two trips. “Students learn more in five days in D.C. than we can teach them in a whole year in the classroom,” Brady told Rotarians.
“We keep them busy. We leave the hotel every day at 6 a.m. and don’t return until 9 or 10 p.m. each night.”
The trip is independent of the school district, so interested students must fundraise themselves. The cost is about $2,500 per student. So far, about five eighth-graders have signed up, but Brady believes the program will grow with time.
Brady also touted the trip’s lasting impact. “I’ve seen students return and become better kids. They’re more proud of our military, our history, and our country. And they come back as more motivated students.” The Rotary Club’s donation will be used to uniformly lower the ticket price for each student who wants to attend.
