Curtis Swanson and his classmates peered up at the sun-kissed sign outside their school.

Several missing letters prevented the full communication of its message — a dilapidated sign of the times for a proud school on Auburn’s West Hill.

“Our reader board is 44 years old. The letters keep falling off and breaking, and we’re running out of letters,” said Swanson, a third-grader, whose dad and aunt attended his school, Evergreen Heights Elementary.

The sign no longer informs the public, frustrating staff and confusing visitors.

Now a group of bright students at the school has decided to do something about it.

Ashley Gillaspy’s PACE (Program for Accelerated and Clustered Education) – or highly capable students – a class 11 strong – is organizing a drive to raise money to buy a digital reader board.

The drive is the PACE class’ service project.

The students need about $15,000 to $20,000 to make their dream come true.

First-grader David Schuler dubbed the fundraising drive, TRF, for The Reader board Fund.

“We want to grab community members’ attention, so we could have more involvement in our school,” Gillaspy said. “We’re called this little, hidden gem of a school up here in a corner … and we want people to know what we are doing.”

Evergreen Heights has produced some of the highest test scores in the state. It is a diverse school with an ELL (English Language Learners) population of 102 students out of its enrollment of 495.

Students are organizing a coin drive and other fundraising events. They plan to promote it throughout the school year and ask for donations from individuals and local businesses.

Soon, the TRF campaign will be accessible on the Evergreen Heights website and on the school and PTA Facebook pages.

Donations can be made to: Evergreen Heights Elementary School, Att: The Reader board Fund, 5602 S. 316th St, Auburn, WA 98001.

PHOTO BELOW:

Letters often fall from Evergreen Heights’ old reader board. The message should say, “Timberwolf Trait Responsibility.’ MARK KLAAS, Auburn Reporter