Blaine County Education Association

05/22/2025

Last night at WRHS, Kat Thorp had the privilege of giving the BCEA child of a member award to Miss Clara Gvozdas. 🎉

We want to thank all our dedicated members who help us provide this scholarhip. It is one of two scholarships that we provide annually for graudates in Blaine County.

Congratulations and good luck Clara! 🎓 We are so proud of you! 💗

02/23/2025

🚨 CALL TO ACTION: Protect Blaine County’s Public Schools! 🚨

Idaho’s Legislature just passed a $50 million school voucher bill, and now it’s up to Governor Little to sign or veto it. This bill directs public money to private and religious schools—without accountability—and could hurt the public schools we all rely on in Blaine County.

Here’s why this doesn’t work for us:

✅ We already have school choice—but private schools in our area are expensive and selective. Even with a voucher, most Blaine County families couldn’t afford these schools, meaning this bill won’t actually help local students.

✅ Public schools are the heart of our community—from Wood River High to Carey, Hailey, and Bellevue Elementary. This bill takes taxpayer money away from the schools that serve ALL students, including those with special needs, diverse backgrounds, and different learning styles.

✅ No oversight or accountability—Private schools don’t have to follow the same standards as public schools. That means our tax dollars could fund schools that aren’t required to serve all students fairly or meet the rigorous expectations we have for public education.

Governor Little has the power to veto this bill, but he needs to hear from us NOW.

📞 CALL Governor Little at (208) 334-2100 and tell him:
“I’m a Blaine County resident, and I strongly urge you to veto the school voucher bill. Our public schools are the foundation of our community, and diverting tax dollars to private institutions that most families can’t afford is the wrong move for Idaho.”

**Edited to say that on Saturday evening, you only need to indicate your choice by listening to options and pushing the associated numbers. No message necessary.

Copy/Paste THIS POST with friends, neighbors, and local leaders. Let’s stand up for public education in Blaine County before it’s too late!

02/07/2025

BCEA offers two scholarships annually to graduating seniors. One is for a student who is planning on pursuing a career in education and one is for a members child. These one time $800 scholarships are meant to help support students in a positive way. A huge shout out and thank you to BCEF for hosting us again this year!

WRHS representatives and proud BCEA members, Susan Worst and Kat Thorp were there to help answer any questions students and families may have about applying.

Please encourage local seniors to apply. Local scholarship applications are now being accepted.

05/08/2024

😄😃😆Let’s give some love to our teachers!

05/08/2024

Go nominate those teachers!

Enter your wonderful teachers in our raffle to celebrate Teacher Appreciation Week! Like our page and comment on this post to enter your teacher into a raffle to win prizes from our awesome sponsors!

Thank you to our sponsors:
Hailey Coffee Company
CK's Real Food
DaVinci's
Yaya's
Sun Valley Museum of Art
Atkinsons' Market
Christopher and Co. Jewelry
Cox
Sun Valley Garden Center

Blaine County School District #61 Wood River High School Bellevue Elementary School Hailey Elementary Alturas Dual Immersion Elementary School Alturas Elementary School PTA Outreach Hemingway STEAM School Hemingway Parent Auxiliary

05/08/2024

Nominate teachers or staff members!

Locally Owned! Visit our webpage http://www.lukespharmacy.com. We are a cost-plus pharmacy meaning you don't need insurance, we just sell generic drugs really cheap. This has allowed us to hone in on wellness with weight loss and point of care testing.

04/13/2024

Delegate Assembly was this weekend in Boise. BCEA was represented by your executive team as delegates. Region 4 was represented well. It was an absolute pleasure to be your voice.

Thank you all for your hard work for education in Idaho.

09/26/2023

Let’s help support BCEF as they help support teachers and staff in Blaine County!

Your donations have made a direct impact in our community! Through your generosity, we provided 583 families with school meals and over 400 backpacks for students in need. We are currently taking applications for our Teacher and School Grants which will be awarded this fall.

Please consider donating during our 180 Days of School Campaign. Your $180 donation (or donation of any size) will help us make a difference for Blaine County students and families this year!

https://www.supportbcef.org/donate/

09/17/2023

BCEA 🍎Region 4 representatives at our LUP training in Boise: IEA Region 4 Board Member, Kat Thorp and BCEA President, Brenda Southwick spent the last two days in training with local presidents, Board Members, and Region Directors from around the state; learning and collaborating to make this school year wonderful! 🌞

08/15/2023

We are so proud of our long term BCEA member Chris Koch! We will miss him as a Rep but we are so excited for him and his new position at WRMS!

As the next school year quickly approaches, Wood River Middle School will welcome a new leadership team with Principal Donna Pierson and Assistant Principal Christopher Koch.

05/24/2023

Co- president, Kat Thorp had the honor of presenting the two BCEA scholarships to our recipients this evening at our local scholarship fair.

WRHS Senior, Rabbit Buxton received a $800 scholarship to pursue his degree in education.

WRHS Senior, Eric Parris received a $800 scholarship to put towards his college degree as a child of a BCEA member.

Both students want to thank BCEA members for their scholarships and support in their future endeavors.

We want to thank all students who applied and wish all graduates the best of luck!

PC: WRHS Senior, Heidi Carrillo