Literacy Day Fundraiser

For 90 minutes, the halls of Westlake Middle School in Broomfield, Colorado, fell silent as everyone — students, teachers, custodians — settled down with a good book. The school celebrated a full day of literacy with special guest readers, reading games, literacy activities in each class and a full 90 minutes of uninterrupted reading. The Read-a-Thon event was a fundraiser for the school’s mini-grant program, which allows teachers to fund field trips, projects or other special educational tools for their students. Instead of having children sell candy or coupon books, the assistant principal said the school has decided to get students involved in fundraisers that help them learn something new. Students got a big injection of reading-related activities, even in their math and physical education classes. Part of the literacy day included visits from coaches, principals and staff from area schools, as well as a former Denver Nuggets player and the announcer for the Colorado Rockies. They read from their favorite books and talked about how reading skills helped their careers. To motivate children to gather pledges and read as much as possible, the school gave out fun incentives, such as gift cards to local bookstores. Top earners from each grade received perks, such as being principal for the day and having the principal attend class in their place. The student who earned the most money won a Nook e-reader. The school will continue to organize the Read-a-Thon each year.

We have included a number of do-it-yourself fundraising ideas in this section that offer a break from traditional product sales. They were developed by groups just like yours in an attempt have a little fun with their fundraiser. Some of them are tried and true while others show a lot of creativity … and even wackiness in some cases. All of them are obviously not appropriate for every group, but sometimes, with only a little modification, your might find some fund raising ideas that are perfect for your group. If you have an idea for a do-it-yourself fund raiser you are willing to share with others, please send it to us via email. Include anything and everything you would want to know if you were hearing the idea for the first time.