Boosterthon!

I have to admit, I've honestly never seen a group of children so excited about participating in a fundraiser.  Yes, the PTA contracts out to the company and they do take a cut of our earnings, but in my eyes its all worth it.  Odd, you say, since the point is to raise money for the school?  True!  But I am just not sure that a group of PTA moms could create the same hype, enthusiasm and excitement as the Boosterthon team does.

Here's how it works: The company sends 2-3 reps to the school and they stay at the school for 10 days.  On day 1 they lead a pep rally to kick it all off, and each day after that they lead a "Boosterthon Huddle" for each grade level.  They learn a character trait (teamwork, confidence, etc) each day.  Oh, and the prizes.  There are prizes associated with $/lap, poster "contests" and just signing up!

(Most days being the Asst. Principal means walking the mis-behavers around the hallway, making phone calls to parents, and other unpleasant tasks.  But occasionally it also means wearing a tutu and dancing around the field.)

Yes, Sam is super motivated by prizes.  But the excitement in the kids is more than that.  You should see them doing their "BIG....WORLD....RECESS!" cheer.  And on the day of, these kids RUN.  They run fast, they run hard, they run holding hands and clutching water cups for a half hour.  Some respect the mandated walking laps, some do not.

This year I decided that if I was going to be there to watch, I might as well be doing something.  I signed up to mark shirts, and easy job.  Just put a mark in the next box on the back of the kids' shirts every time they run past you.  Kuddos to the girls who pulled their own pony tails to the side!  But I tell ya, I won't be sad when I'm making 5th grade shirts. The bending and twisting to get to the kindergarten backs wore me out!

Sam came to me to mark his shirt every single lap.  All 45 of them.  But wait, I thought they were only supposed to run 30-35 laps?  Well yes, that's all that they will bill the sponsors for.  But Ms. Paniagua promised a treat to anyone who ran 45.  I think she was hoping to just wear them all out, but she might have gotten more than she bargained for.  After it was all over, she looked at her line and told them "We are having a break when we get inside!"  I later learned that break included lying down on the floor.

It was a lot of bending, but I'm glad I did it.  It was fun to help the kids keep track of where they were (I just started calling out numbers as I marked each shirt) and it was fun to interact with Sam's class.