With school budgets in decline throughout the state, one Silver Plume resident and Georgetown Community School parent/volunteer sees a silver lining — in bricks.

Jane Bittner recently started the Building a Future Brick by Brick program to help the school weather the tough economy. The idea is to sell bricks engraved with messages from their donors — bricks that will then line the interior of the school’s walls.

The bricks, which are actually more like tiles, are being sold in two sizes, one 4-by-8 inches for $50 and the other 8-by-8 inches for $100. The money will go into a fund managed by the volunteer group School Support Network to help teachers pay for things on their wish lists such as tables or books.

“… We’re going to provide the teachers with what they want,” said Bittner, whose daughter is a fifth-grader at the school. “If a teacher comes to us and says, ‘I really need this for the classroom,’ of course we’re only going to have so much money, (and) we’ll look at it case by case.”

Bittner said volunteers try to raise money for the charter school in any way they can. After she came up with the brick idea, head of school Rick Winter gave her the official go-ahead, and she was told to run with the idea.

“I am just one of the many wonderful volunteers at the school,” Bittner said. “… I would like to see the whole community stand behind the Georgetown school — businesses, alumni — (and) just help out the school.”

To order a brick or for more information, visit www.bricksrus.com/order/gcs, or to Georgetown Community School, which also has order forms. Bittner can be reached at 303-886-1373 or jane.bittner@hotmail.com.

“The school almost closed its doors four years ago. It would have been a shame to see this school close after it has been a part of Georgetown’s history for so many years,” Bittner said. “Like any school, we need the support of our community to keep it running — this would be a way for the community to help.”