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Strong Organizations... Strong Youth! |  |
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School Fundraisers: A Necessary Evil?
In a recent survey conducted by the National Association of Elementary
School Principals (NAESP) ninety percent of schools do fundraisers yet
over sixty-five percent of schools said they would stop fundraising
if they could. Another ninety percent said fundraisers are worth the
effort. In sixty-five percent of the of schools surveyed the PTA or
PTO organizes the Too many, fundraisers--or often one if it is put in a group with other
fundraisers that inevitably come with kids activities--can put a great
deal of stress on parents because often they end up doing most of the
selling. In that same NAESP survey, over fifty-six percent of schools
received complaints from parents due to fundraisers. Some families avoid
the hassle "My mom will either just donate money, or sometimes she lets me participate in the fundraiser," she said. Erin Brooks, president of the Superior Hills Association of Parents and Educators (SHAPE) from the Superior Hills Elementary School in Marquette said that works for her group. "Sometimes parents prefer to not participate in a fund raiser so instead they donate money to SHAPE," she said. According to Tamra Bott, principal of the Graveraet Intermediate School in Marquette, the Marquette Area Public Schools have a policy of only allowing one "outside" fundraiser a year. That rule, she says, is designed to not only protect school families from too many fundraisers, but also the public who are asked to buy something. Often, when students go door-to-door fundraising people feel pressured to buy, according to Kyle Dorow, thirteen, of Ishpeming who attends the C.L. Phelps Middle School. "They do because they don't want to hurt the kid's feeling by not buying something," he said. Bott explains that just because her school district only allows one "outside" fundraiser, that does mean itｹs the only time kids are involved in selling or buying. "Per district guidelines we're allowed to do one outside fund raiser per year. However we are allowed to do in house fundraisers, which means we're only selling to students within the school," she said. "We have a Sayklly's Easter egg sale, we sell Graveraet t-shirts and sweatshirts, hold a spring carnival and the parent organization sells popcorn to the students each week." Two of the largest and best-known companies that schools use for raising funds are Innisbrook and QSP, which mainly offer candy and gift-wrap. According to the QSP website, huge amounts of money have been involved through the years. Since 1964 students selling that company's products have raised over three billion dollars in profits for their schools. Typically, the companies offer a 50-50 share of the profits as well as incentive prizes to encourage students to participate. But many students say the prizes really donｹt encourage them to sell. "I think they are junky," said Sydney Dorow, nine, of Ishpeming, who attends the Birchview Elementary School. The prizes can be one reason, but not the main reason, for participating, according to Lorissa Juntti, eleven, of Ishpeming, who attends the C.L. Phelps Middle School. "Sometimes it (the prizes) motivates me but I just like doing
it to help my school or other people," she said. Bott points out
that her school's main fundraiser raises a lot of money for What types of programs do these funds go for? According to the NAESP survey fifty-eight percent of the schools surveyed use the money from fundraisers for classroom equipment and school supplies, fifty-seven percent for filed trips, fifty percent for library books, and fourty-five percent for playground equipment. According to Bott the fund raisers at the Graveraet Intermediate School help pay for the fifth grade science trip to Bay Cliff, plus assignment books, mini grants for teachers, field trips, and Adventure Day, an outdoor activity day. Brooks explained what the fundraisers pay for at the Superior Hills Elementary. "We start our year giving the teachers grants for classroom supplies," she said. "The money also goes towards assemblies, holiday programs, winter clothing for children of need, special Educational Family Night programs, a third grade ski trip and other field trips. We also do a monthly Staff Appreciation meal." In Ishpeming, school fundraisers aren't just used to raise money for the school, according to T'Nia Burse, eleven, who attends the Aspen Ridge Middle School in the NICE School District. "We just sold some chocolate and we donated all of the money to
St. Jude's Children's Hospital," she said. Typically the parent
organizations decide what the outside fundraiser will Overall school fundraisers may be a hassle for all involved, but they are worth the trouble? According to Brooks they are "They are extremely necessary. The days of the school districts being able to pay for everything are gone," she said. Bott agrees. "As both an educator and a parent of children who belong to organizations where we have to do fundraisers, you do feel like it's a lot of work," she said. "But, also being on the education side of it and seeing the good that our parent group can provide for our school with the funds they raise that they otherwise wouldn't be able to do for us it's kind of eye-opening for me."
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