PTO’s and Booster Clubs Help Students and Faculty with Funding
Being fiscally responsible is a priority in the HASD. The various Hortonville Area School District Parent-Teacher Organizations (PTO) and Booster Clubs are helpful in this effort as they raise funds to ensure that students and staff have the resources available to help them be successful.
Hortonville High School has many booster clubs that help raise money to fund co-curricular activities. Over the years, the Football Booster Club has been able to buy new goal posts for Akin Field, an end zone camera, new headset for coaching staff, provide funding for volunteer coaches, and have given monetary donations towards workout equipment for the fitness center. They also fund fan and team busses for further distance away games, and have sponsored team cookouts and dinners.
In order to help with all of these endeavors, the football booster club sells ads to local businesses for the fall sports program, sells concessions at games, and other fundraising activities.
The Boys Basketball Booster Club feels it is of great importance to help with funding in order to provide an avenue for youth to get interested in basketball starting in the 3rd grade, as well as supporting these young athletes as they progress into high school basketball. Some of the contributions that have been made by the booster club are two new basketball hoops in the high school Fieldhouse, the purchase of an on-line scouting system, an annual donation to the fitness center, purchase of uniforms and game day warm-ups for high school basketball teams, funding summer leagues and tournaments, fees for clinics, and many other initiatives.
To fund all of these items and activities, the booster club raises money through the Hortonville Basketball Tournament, team registrations at basketball camps, selling concessions, door entry fees into games, and 50/50 raffles.
The Baseball Booster Club, having only been formed three years ago, is active in helping the baseball program in Hortonville. Since it started, the booster club was able to purchase a field dragger, the Hall of Fame cabinets in the high school, on-field batting cages, new dug out benches, in-field fencing at the Commercial Club diamond, and also assisted the 2010 team with a spring training trip to Florida.
Funding for the booster club comes from holding three Hall of Fame events each year where former baseball players are inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame and recognized at a banquet. Gun raffles are also held to help raise additional funds.
The baseball booster club has future plans to build a new concession stand at Commercial Club, improve safety of the bleachers, install a warning track in the outfield, and also replace the roofs on the dugouts.
Wrestling Booster Club raises funds for student athletes in the wrestling program through revenue from youth wrestling tournaments, selling concessions, organizing sporting clay shoots, and also with help from local businesses through sponsorships.
From this, the club has been able to provide funding for wrestling mats for all grade levels, singlets/uniforms for youth wrestlers, wall boards for high school wrestling records and achievements, and equipment for practice purposes. They have also been able to cover hotel stays for high school wrestlers each year; banquet costs each year for high school, middle school and youth wrestlers; as well as bus trips to tournaments and other wrestling events.
Music Booster Club raises money throughout the school year to provide funding for various items. These items include paying over half of the price of the band risers, aiding the purchase of all 4-step risers for choir, and buying two sets of 3-step choir risers. They also fund students who want to go to music camps in the summer by providing two students, who have filled out applications, with full scholarships, and allocating money towards other students who have filled out applications so that everyone receives money and the opportunity to attend a camp. After providing funding for music camps, the booster club then gives each music department a check to pay for additional items to aid classroom instruction.
Ways that the music booster club raises money for the above endeavors are through selling advertisements in fliers that are handed out at concerts, selling flowers at musicals, selling candy bars and refreshments at concerts and music events, as well as selling concessions at solo ensemble.
The Hortonville Middle School PTO has made various contributions to give students more access to resources that aid learning. Some items that have been bought for HMS by the PTO are whiteboards for various classrooms, book resources, as well as buying enough SMART boards so that each classroom has one to use. Funding for these items can be attributed to fundraising events such as the Dip packet sale, concession sales at track meets, box tops for education and various others.
Goals for this year and coming years are to get more whiteboard overlays so that all HMS classrooms have them. They will also be looking into technology-related materials as future purchases.
At Greenville Middle School, the PTO has organized dances and fun nights, sponsored the 5th grade Knowledge-a-thon, collected milk caps, collected Campbell’s soup labels, overseen the Scholastic Book Fair, collected General Mills Box Tops, and organized the 8th grade Awards Night.
GMS is currently looking to revive its PTO; the organization is made up of parents and school personnel that can help with volunteering for different activities or fundraising. There is a need for general members as well as officers. The group elects officers, and sets their own meeting times and agendas. If you are interested, please contact GMS secretary Cindy Buelow to compile a list of names. You can also contact Bruce Carew, GMS Principal, for more information.
Hortonville Elementary School’s PTO funds various needs and events for staff and students. Technology-related resources have been made one of the largest priorities by the PTO. For example, some of the items they have purchased are a SMART board for every classroom, ELMOs (document cameras) at the teacher’s request, as well iPads to be checked out from the library media center. Other contributions include purchasing playground equipment, buying prizes and supplies for Math Club, and re-doing the Butterfly Garden behind the school. The PTO also funds many fun events for students and their families to attend.
In order to fund the various items and events, the HES PTO sells cookie dough, entertainment books, holds a book fair, collects box tops for education, and has a booth to sell cheesecake at Appleton’s Oktoberfest event.
A goal for 2013 is to be able to give every student at HES a book for their birthday. The hope is that the Spring 2013 book fair will have raised the funds to be able to start giving students books in Fall 2013.
Greenville Elementary School’s (GES) PTO has made technology a large area of focus. Over the past few years, they have been able to purchase digital cameras, camcorders, iPads, and iPods for students and staff to checkout from the Library Media Center. Also due to the GES PTO, every classroom at GES is equipped with a SMART Board for instruction and interaction.
For GES staff and students to have such technology, the PTO has various fundraising events. The largest fundraiser done is the fall fundraiser, which includes selling cookie dough, Christmas wrapping paper, and other items. This fundraiser typically raises the money that is then used to fund the whole school year’s PTO activities and technology for the school.
The next goal is to install a FrontRow sound system in every classroom, which improves teacher clarity for all children to hear, no matter where they are in the room.
The Parent-Teacher Organizations and Booster Clubs throughout the district help to provide opportunities for staff, coaches, and students alike. They all have a common goal: to fund items and activities that would not otherwise be available.
Thank you to the many parents and faculty members that donate their time and effort towards these organizations! These groups are also always looking for more involvement, so please contact your child’s school to take part.
For information on these organizations and clubs, visit:
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