UMMS To Hold Flea Market for Canada Trip

Tomorrow morning, Upper Moreland Middle School will be filled with CDs, crafts, jewelry, board games, electric guitars and other youth-focused items.

This can only mean one thing: It’s time for the annual UMMS flea market.

“It’s become a community event,” John Grande, the event’s organizer, said.

The flea market will take place at the middle school from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., and will feature more than 40 tables of youth-focused items sold by the middle school students themselves.

“It’s also a parent’s happy day,” Grande said, “because they get to clean out their garages and basements.”

Grande said that the flea market becomes crowded with bargain hunters within a half-hour of opening. He recalled how one year, a woman with twins piled all her children’s old clothes on one table, which was neatly sold out by the end of the flea market.

The event has taken place for the past 15 years, according to Grande. Each year, proceeds from the event go toward the fundraising efforts for the school’s annual Canada trip, which Grande also organizes.

Aside from the flea market, Grande organizes three other main middle school Canada trip fundraising events:

• Wawa coupons – Coupons are being sold at $4. According to Grande, 3,600 have been sold since November 2010. Coupons are still available for purchase.
• Mardi Gras celebration – During this event, students going on the trip sell Mardi Gras masks and beads from New Orleans.
• Italian dinner – In April, Carrabba's of Willow Grove will cater a fundraising event at the middle school, where gift basket raffles will also be available. Baskets in recent years have included sports memorabilia and tickets to a Phillies’ game.

According to Grande, last year’s fundraising efforts topped previous years, with a total of $15,000.

This amount was used to help decrease the cost of a student’s ticket to attend the Canada trip.

With 128 students signed up to go on this year’s trip, Grande said that the cost would be $710 per packaged-deal ticket. The package deal includes traveling expenses, boarding and various activities.

To sweeten the deal, Grande has incorporated a rebate system, which encourages students and parents to participate in the fundraising efforts. At each of the fundraising events, students sell homemade baked goods, as well as sodas and water, which are donated by the parents.

Grande keeps track of which families participate by checking the student’s name on a master list, and decreases the student's ticket price based on the amount of participation.

Last year, he recorded 750 checks next to students’ names.

“I think these fundraisers are special because they bring families together for a common purpose,” Grande said. “And, it’s a good purpose."

Grande, a UMMMS seventh- and eighth-grade Spanish and French teacher, started the trip 15 years ago as a way to encourage more students to take his French class.

“It was tough to get students to study French,” Grande said. “So, I thought, let’s bring these kids to Canada.”

He wanted to bring only 20 of his French students to the French-speaking regions of Canada that year, but when he pitched the idea to the school’s administrator at the time, Bill Lessa, he was persuaded to open the trip to the entire school.

In the first year, 40 students went to Canada. The following year, 60 students went. By the third year, and during subsequent years, an average of 120 to 150 students attended the trip.

Grande said that for many of the students, the trip represents the first opportunity to be away from home—let alone stay for several days in another country.

“I really love getting the family and kids involved and excited about going someplace they’ve never been before,” Grande said.

Aside from fundraising, students must earn the right to attend the Canada trip through their behavior. According to Grande, students that sign up for the trip in the beginning of the year must maintain high grades, and a good disciplinary and attendance record.

“Parents like this trip, as well, because it encourages their children toward excellence,” Grande said.

The destinations in Canada have generally been to the French-speaking regions, including downtown Montreal and Quebec City. There, the French students may practice the language, and all students may learn about French history and culture.

The chaperones on this trip include the school’s administrator, teachers and parents with medical backgrounds. According to Grande, one adult chaperone is needed for every nine students attending the trip.

For more information, visit the UMMS Canada Trip website.