The Rotary Club of Penrith Valley has been hard at work developing a far reaching project called "School In a Box". The box was created to deliver school needs to rural, remote, western and far western schools, especially in terms three and four when these small remote schools find themselves running short of essential items and morale is in need of a boost.
Unlike city schools, or even schools in regional towns, for some of these remote schools, going to the local shop to buy necessities is often not an option with the trip taking one or two days, the nearest "shop" being several hundred kilometres away.
The Rotary Club of Penrith Valley has developed the box with the school in mind. While the basic box supplies pens, pencils, coloured pencils, books etc. it is flexible enough, in collaboration with the school, to cater for the needs of each individual school environment. It also helps local businesses and communities. In Dubbo The Men's Shed is adding to the project with wooden toys, blocks and jigsaws which would help to develop manipulative skills.
The project has enormous potential and the Club feels that with the cooperation of Rotary Clubs across the State, and even across the Nation, the project can grow and develop to all remote schools and, importantly, enthuse both children and staff.
Already the Rotary Club of Penrith Valley has the cooperation of a number of other Rotary Clubs in regional areas such as Dubbo, Cobar, Coonamble and Broken Hill and with their cooperation have sent boxes, or home schooling packs to nine remote schools in the west and far west. Other Clubs are considering the process and how it can be implemented by their Club.