Letter to Editor: PTO Treats Students to Limo Ride, Other Rewards During School Year

Hi Jamie,  

I wanted to let you know about our success with our fall fundraiser and how the prizes got our students engaged. I am the Vice President for fundraising for MPES and Cougar Elementary. Our board works very hard supporting our schools financially and emotionally. We don't know if Cougar parents realize all that we do. So I would like to "toot our own horn".

The money we raise helps us purchase Friday folders and agenda books for both schools, clothing for misshaps at both schools, and last year we purchased professional grade otoscopes and thermometers for the nurses. 

We donate to the field trip fund, reading nights, Christmas for Cougars, and the Cougar Literacy Walk/Run. Every year we pay for Cougar's Scholastic book subscription.

At MPES we have started a fund for the North Field Track, purchased a kit for the new Lego League, and paid for shelving for the library. We coordinate Spirit Nights and sell Spirit Wear to involve our school community.

We host yearly an and a holiday shop for students. To boost morale and show our support, we have a teachers appreciation dinner and also a breakfast for American Education Week with gifts for the teachers.

This year we started a teachers incentive monthly drawing, the winner recieves a gift certificate of their choice for $30.00. 

We also supported our bus drivers during bus driver appreciation week. Now that you know what we do, I'll get back to the fundraiser prizes. We had our fundraiser with a company called Believe.

We were able to negotiate some great prize incentives. We just had the drawing and one student from each school will recieve an Android 7" pc tablet. We had a drawing at MPES where Mrs. Mamon, the principal, pushed the winning student in her office chair (we called it Mrs. Mamon's taxi) from class to class and to the bus at the end of the day. The students loved it! 

Any student who sold 25 items will be taking a limo ride on Nov. 7th to CiCi's Pizza in Manassas. We have approximately 25 students per school taking this ride! 

Thank you, Heather Gustin MPC PTO Vice President for fundraising