Education can present quite a few challenges, especially when it comes to funding it.

Luckily, these days making sure students on Bainbridge Island have great schools is only a click away.

The Clickathon is a Bainbridge Island way to support its schools.

“In the old days they had ‘phoneathon.’ Originally teachers and community members and administrators would come together to call the community members and ask for donations,” said Kari Wright of the Bainbridge Schools Foundation.

“We morphed it into the ‘Clickathon,’” she added. “Instead of being bothered on the phone during your dinner hour, we are asking people to go online and make a donation annually.”

The Clickathon runs through Oct. 31, leaving just under a week for the island to donate toward the education of its future.

Donating is simple. From the comfort of a computer, laptop or smart phone, islanders can go to the foundation’s website, www.bain

bridgeschoolsfoundation.com, and make a donation using their bank card or PayPal.

The Clickathon is one third of the fundraising effort for the foundation, but perhaps the most wide-reaching — they also have a benefit dinner and benefit breakfast to raise money.

This year the foundation has a goal of donating

$1 million.

“Last year we gave the school district a million dollars and we hope to do the same this year,” Wright said.

The foundation is seeking donations of any amount to help fund the island’s classrooms.

“A donation of any size is important; $10 or $10,000,” said Connie Feikes with the Bainbridge Schools Foundation. “We are asking people to make a donation of what works for their family.”

The money is important to the school district’s teachers and administrators.

“They are counting on the money,” Wright said. “It pays for staff salaries, keeps class sizes reasonable, teacher training, and classroom enrichment grants.”

Teachers in particular see the effects of the foundation’s funding.

“Every year it funds anywhere in the neighborhood of six to eight teachers that wouldn’t have jobs,” Feikes said. “Students get 90 more minutes of visual math per week because of this funding.”

Wright noted that math and science are increasingly becoming an important factor in education and the money raised helps fund STEM programs in the district.

And if the benefits to children’s education isn’t attractive enough. Feikes noted another good reason.

“Schools impact property values,” she said. “That affects community at large.”