The Josiah Quincy School Association (JQSA) hopes to raise a tidal wave of funds for the school's swim program with Splash, its Friday, May 29 cocktail-party at the offices of Holland and Knight at 10 St. James Avenue. The festivities begin at 6:30 PM and include hors d'oeuvres, games of chance and a silent auction.

Tickets are available for $110 on-line and $125 at the door. Proceeds from Splash will help fund the JQS swim program for second through fifth-grade students, field trip expenses and the technology lab at the school. "JQSA means community coming together to support and enrich our children. Too often BPS can't or won't fund programs to educate the whole child. That is where JQSA steps up to ensure the entire child is educated. Access to technology, life-saving skills and field trips, which foster learning outside the classroom, contribute to a well-rounded, holistic education for our children," Glyn Polson, JQSA co-chair, said in an e-mail. JQSA volunteers Polson and Billie Jo Weiss as well as JQS principal Simon Ho acknowledged generous support from Tufts New England Medical Center and the South Cove Community Health Center.
According to Ho, over 400 students participate in the swimming program, which encompasses at least three classes per day, three days per week. "They start out in September afraid of the water of the water and soon they are swimming. It plays a major role in physical education," Ho said in a telephone interview. JQS has its own pool and pays instructors from the neighboring Wang YMCA to teach the swim classes. Ho, who said that he did not learn to swim until he saw his own children swim, observed, "Swimming is a life-saving tool. Learning should not be limited to the classroom; it should include the swimming pool. Swimming should start from a very young age and should not be limited to those who can go to the swimming pool and be driven there. We want a quality program and we treat it with great care." Both Polson and Weiss described the benefits their children have derived from the swim program. "Both of my daughters learned how to swim through the JQSA program. My youngest had swimming for part of this school year and will continue to learn more advanced technique next year as a fifth grader," Weiss observed via e-mail. Polson said, "Our oldest loves the swim program and both kids have benefitted from the field trips."

Since the Boston Public Schools have a significant proportion of students from lower-income households, fundraising is crucial to supplementing the basic curriculum. Weiss commented on JQSA's role, "With each year and increasing budget cuts we work together to find a way to try to address the problem. We continue to work on building strong corporate and community ties, identifying new sources of funding and ways to 'make it work'. Proceeds from Splash also go towards subsidizing field trips for children in K through 1 grades and the school's technology lab, a vitally important part or our children's education to prepare them for the world they are about to enter." Ho stressed the importance of JQSA's efforts, commenting, "They work very hard, quietly and diligently. I want to thank them for their support. They should be taking the credit for meeting many times and finding ways to reach out to the community. Parents in this school are very generous."

For more information and to purchase tickets to Splash, please visit http://www.eventbrite.com/e/splash-tickets-16740676815?ref=ebtnebtckt.