New board members added to education nonprofit | Palatka Daily News, Palatka, Florida

Group expects to fund pre-k tuition for 35 Putnam students

Lift Putnam Director Mike Perry addresses board members at Azalea Brewing Co. in Palatka during a meeting Monday afternoon.
The Lift Putnam board, featuring 11 new members, meets Monday night to discuss funding, initiatives and goals for the organization.
Positively Putnam FL

Lift Putnam, the designated education foundation for Putnam County, is ready to get going after welcoming 11 new board members Monday night.

The organization intends to pay the tuition of 35 pre-k students this school year. Pre-k is free for all students – but only for half the school day. Parents or guardians who want their children to attend public pre-k for the full day have to pay to send their kids to school for the rest of the day.

On Monday, the group’s members gathered at Azalea Brewing Co. discussed branding, raising funds and rebounding during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Executive Director Mike Perry called the organization a catalyst for change in the county. Perry said Lift Putnam has lost several board members in the past 18 months due to a variety of factors.

“We started to identify folks we thought would be good for the program,” Perry said. “We looked for people from all walks of life and different skill sets to come and be a part of what we’re doing.”

Perry said the board had the desire to give students the best education they could get. He said pre-k is a critical time for children to develop, giving students advantages later in life.

“There’s two things we have to do as an education foundation,” Perry said. “One, identity programs and initiatives we have to be involved in. The second thing we absolutely have to do is pay for it.”

Kari Reynolds, a clinical social worker at the North East Florida Educational Consortium, said she wants to fulfill the organization’s mission of making a difference in the lives of children.

“I’m excited for the people who were already here to work with some of the new people and about working with people I’ve never met,” Reynolds said.

Putnam County School District staff specialist Yasheika Benford primarily works with younger children and said she could provide insight to Lift Putnam. A majority of her 18 years with the district was as an exceptional student education teacher.

“I do know the importance of starting early because if you don’t, it makes it more difficult to fill in those gaps,” Benford said.

Nancy Wilde, a board member of two years, said she wants Lift Putnam and students to succeed, based on her experience as an educator at Middleton-Burney Elementary School.

“My life goal is to help all children to be able to read, write, speak and listen,” Wilde said. “Anything to support that, I’m all in.”

Kate Adornetto, Joyce Oliver, Tim Keyser and Wilde are returning board members. The new board members are Benford, Reynolds, Les Sims, Debbie Donlan, Lula Gail Parish, Vernon Myers, Christian Calderon, Susan Gaboriau, Margie Payne, Christa Smith and Mary Ratliff.