Wave Runner Could Keep Students Up To Speed

The PTA at Ness Elementary is gambling on Spokane’s appetite for summer fun.

Literally. The PTA is raffling a Wave Runner personal watercraft this spring. Raffle tickets cost $5 a pop and organizers hope to raise $25,000.

The Wave Runner will be at the Big Horn Sports and Recreation Show at the fairgrounds today through Sunday.

“It was my brainchild,” said Doug Wieber, PTA co-president.

Wieber is sure his idea is a good one. He’s certain he’s working for a good cause. But the project has taken more legwork than either he or Ness principal Tom Moore anticipated.

Here’s how the project started. Wieber and some of the other PTA leaders decided to dream big this year and invite Ness teachers to do the same.

“We went to the teachers and said, ‘Start dreaming. We want to see your wish lists,”’ Wieber said.

The ideas flowed, some of them modest, some of them huge: A computer club. An after-school science club. A greenhouse and tree farm. Summer school scholarships and more.

The PTA leaders believed that the high numbers of at-risk students at Ness needed extra opportunities to learn. They believed they had few choices for where to find that help.

“We could turn to the government. But they’re broke. We could turn to the school district. But where do they get their money?” Wieber said.

So, the parents decided that raising extra money and finding the time and energy to make wishes into reality was up to them.

They approached a few businesses, including Redding Construction, the contractor completing a fourclassroom addition to Ness. Redding Construction gave $1,000.

One parent decided that Ness’ after-school sports program meant enough to him that he wrote a check for $2,000. That father, who chose to remain anonymous, told Moore he’d rather give the money to the school than pay taxes on it, Moore said. “But he’s out there Monday, Wednesday and Friday afternoons, himself, playing flag football and floor hockey and tumbling.”

Not every parent can make that kind of gift.

And the PTA members decided they didn’t want their children selling chocolate bars, Wieber said. As a matter of fact, given the high percentage of low-income families in the Ness neighborhood, it was clear that the teachers’ big dreams weren’t going to be financed from within the Ness community.

Hence, the raffle.

The Wave Runner will be displayed at just about every spot the Ness team can find this spring where a good crowd is expected. The PTA hopes to sell 5,000 tickets and plans to hold the drawing on May 2.

“We went out on a limb. We had to buy that sucker,” Wieber said. A discount from Spokane Yamaha helped make that possible. Even so, after having sold about 1,000 of its 5,000 tickets, the raffle is just now breaking even.

“It’s a new venture for me - selling tickets,” Moore admitted.

Some of the behind-the-scenes work has been “a pain.” Moore points to the gambling license tacked to his bulletin board. It cost a cool $300.

And then there was the four-hour class the state Gambling Commission requires before one can legally run a raffle.

And the $200 the PTA has to pay for outdoor display space at the fairgrounds this weekend.

But Wieber and Moore are optimistic the Wave Runner tickets will sell.

“For $5 a ticket is a good investment,” Wieber said.

, DataTimes