Who needs magazines? Hygiene PTO creates fundraising foundation

Gift wrap, anyone? How about some chocolates or magazines? And could you support the jog-a-thon or silent-auction fundraiser? How about purchasing some coupon books?

Any parent of school-age students has heard at least one of those questions asked by their children as they bring home the latest flyer about a fundraiser from their school’s parent-teacher organization. But a group of Hygiene Elementary School parents have begun a quest to make those questions – and the fundraisers that they signify – a thing of the past.

The Hygiene Elementary Parent-Teacher Organization established the Hygiene Educational Family Foundation (HEFF) last spring to “alleviate the burden of all that constant fundraising from the teachers, students and parents,” said Joie Siegrist, chief executive officer of the HEFF board of directors and a parent of children at the school.

Terri Pollock uses a digital viewer to show students her notebook on the Promethean board during her fifth-grade science class at Blue Mountain Elementary School of Science, Technology and Inquiry in Longmont. Lindsay J. C. Lack

“We parents, our teachers and members of the PTO always spend a lot of hours planning and putting on fundraisers for the school,” she said. “We began to think there might be a better way to accomplish our goals and raise the funds our school needs.”

With the encouragement of Hygiene Elementary School principal Mike O’Donnell and a generous donation from an anonymous source, the PTO decided to approach fundraising from a new perspective and created the foundation.

“We have a really ambitious goal to raise $300,000 to $500,000 in seven to 10 years,” Siegrist said. “We want to raise enough funds to be able to create an endowment for the school that can help the school meet its funding needs today and in the future.”

“We have great families at this school that give us a lot of support,” said Traci Carson, a HEFF board member and a parent of Hygiene Elementary School students. “Our PTO has a $30,000 budget, and that comes from our parents supporting the organization and the school. We think that there is a lot of enthusiasm for backing this foundation.”

The top project for the foundation is to provide funding to buy new technology for the school to use in the classroom, such as more computers, integrated white boards, clickers and document cameras. In the past, the St. Vrain Valley School District has not been able to financially afford to equip existing elementary schools with same new technology installed in newly-constructed district schools. While that practice is slated to change – the district is starting a planning process to look at retrofitting existing schools – Hygiene parents decided to move ahead with their school’s foundation to help their 35-year-old school become current more quickly.

“We don’t feel that not having the latest and greatest technology has hindered our children’s learning,” Siegrist said, “but we would like to make sure that we can stay current with technology.”

Blue Mountain Elementary Principal Kristie Venrick has seen first-hand how the latest technology can affect learning in the classroom. Blue Mountain, which opened in August 2008, is equipped with the technology equipment that Hygiene is seeking. The school uses interactive white boards, ceiling-mounted projectors and document cameras in all the classrooms and has a “voice lift” system in classrooms to clarify and project teachers’ voices. There also is the much-requested “laptop cart” that brings 15 laptop computers to the classrooms for class projects.

“Our technology supports student learning and helps our students interact and engage with what they are studying,” Venrick said. “These are not toys; they are powerful tools for learning.”

HEFF leaders would like to bring those technology tools to the students at Hygiene. But both Carson and Siegrist acknowledged that a school with nearly 400 students can’t raise the amount of money the foundation aims to bring in.

“We know we must broaden our sights and look for other funding sources,” Carson said. “We are searching for grants and corporate partnerships and funding. We also are looking for in-kind donations for technology.”

“This is a new process for us, and we are taking baby steps right now and feeling our way,” Siegrist said. “This is the first foundation established to support an elementary school in our district. But we know that our foundation will be a success because of the wonderful parent and community support that we already enjoy.”

Email: kcglasscock@comcast.net