YAKIMA, Wash. -- Unemployment rising, stock market wallowing, economy tanking -- and it still was successful.

So just exactly how did the Yakima School District manage to convince nearly 69 percent of voters to pass a $114 million bond?

On Tuesday, voters overwhelmingly approved a bond measure to replace Eisenhower High School, modernize Davis High School and renovate six other schools.

It was the first time since 1991 that Yakima School District voters agreed to pay for a school bond. Two previous attempts to pass a similar measure had failed.

For Superintendent Ben Soria, the effort was a classic case of the community coming together to prove it values education.

"This is going to be looked at around the country as a case study in success. Yakima is a relatively conservative area, not economically wealthy, and to pull off a bond in this economy, that's pretty awesome," he said.

His successor, Elaine Beraza, who will take over as superintendent when Soria retires at the end of June, was equally impressed. Contacted at her home in Georgia, she said, "This is a big smile day. It's such a step forward and it shows the community believes children come first."

Beraza added that research shows children perform better academically when they have safe, well-equipped buildings.

People involved in the bond campaign pointed to several key factors affecting its success.

"The kids," said Kristy Larson, who co-chaired the community bond committee with husband Paul. "They came forward on their own, and they came up with tons of fabulous stuff."

More than 1,000 high school students signed up to help with the campaign.

And help they did, noted E.J. Juarez, a committee member who worked closely with the student effort. He estimated that students and other volunteers visited 7,000 households to talk about the bond, distributed numerous letters, registered people to vote and made nearly 3,000 phone calls.

Campaigners raised more than $25,000, largely from the local business community.

According to Kristy Larson, Juarez was the organizing guru who targeted the areas -- in terms of neighborhoods, interest groups and voters -- that warranted the most focus.

Juarez is field director for Central Washington Progress, a two-year-old group here, that brings together labor, community and faith-based organizations to effect positive developments in the area.

Juarez analyzed historical voter data to see where outreach would be most effective, and also worked closely with students.

"The kids were already organized, and they took it and ran with it," Juarez said. "You can't give the kids enough credit."

In addition to going door to door and holding rallies, students from Eisenhower, Davis and Stanton high schools visited civic organizations to plead the case for replacing deteriorating school facilities. They also became the voice of the campaign on the radio.

"When you have that many kids involved, that's a very powerful message, and we didn't want to dilute that," Juarez explained.

The bond committee worked both behind and in front of the scenes. Members have been meeting weekly since March, led by the Larsons, whom Juarez described as "amazing organizers."

It was Paul Larson who came up with the slogan, "Great schools make great communities."

Additionally, said Kristy Larson, "From the very beginning the committee felt the biggest selling point would be zero new taxes."

The bond will cost $1.57 per $1,000 of assessed property value, compared with $1.64 per $1,000 on the present bonds, which expire in 2011, the same year the new bond will begin.

Another key element was the enthusiastic support of teachers, said Kristy Larson.

Whatever the secret was, the outcome was everything Soria could have hoped.

"When completed, Davis and Eisenhower will be the centerpieces of the community," he said.

About $112 million of the bond will go to rebuild Eisenhower and $84 million to refurbish Davis, which includes state-matching funds.

The tentative plan is to begin construction at Eisenhower first, because the new school will be built adjacent to the current school. That means students can remain in their school until the new one is completed. Then, once that's done, Davis students can move into the present Ike building, so Davis buildings can be remodeled.

Both of the present facilities were built in 1955, with several remodels added through the years. Davis houses about 1,700 students, while 1,800 attend Eisenhower.

Work could begin as early as July on plans for a new design to Eisenhower. Bids would probably go out in winter 2011, with completion projected for February 2013. Renovation at Davis should be completed in the spring of 2015. Work will be done periodically on the other six schools.

According to school officials, since nearly 69 percent of the voters in Tuesday's election approved the bond, that assured a safe margin for victory.

Counting of new ballots arriving in the mail at the county Auditor's Office will resume today. On Tuesday, 10,628 ballots were counted, or about 38 percent of the ballots mailed to voters.