School nets book money
Principal endures spray of canned confetti string as students’ reward
Alright, so it got a little silly, but it was all for a good cause.
Trinity Catholic School and Educare Principal Sandra Nokes was swiftly and effectively covered in Silly String when students surpassed a fundraising goal for a recent Scholastic Book Fair.
“There were 22 students who had Silly String cans – and it was almost instantaneous,” said Nokes, who remembered to cover her eyes and close her mouth. “It was also pretty funny. I did cover up a bit, because I wasn’t sure what all that string would do to my nice clothes.”
The program is called One for Books and begins with students collecting as much change as they can.
“They brought in pennies on Monday, nickels on Tuesday, dimes on Wednesday and quarters on Thursday,” said Nokes. A total of $727.36 was collected and Scholastic then matches that amount with a donation to three nonprofit organizations: Kids in Distressed Situations, the National Center for Family Literacy and U.S. Marines Toys for Tots.
Trinity teachers picked five students from each class who got $10 to purchase books at the Scholastic book fair.
“We have a population that is mostly kids that probably wouldn’t buy books,” said Nokes, adding that not all the students who got the $10 prize experience financial hardship. “I just let the teachers pick.”
It was volunteer and parent Jessica McCollum who came up with the idea for the program and the reward of canned confetti string.
Nokes said they never expected to raise that much money. It was Trinity’s seventh grade that raised the most money and got to aim their spray cans at the principal.
“For this busy time of the year, with the economy the way it is, it was great fun,” Nokes said. “And it was a great way to give back to other people, and that is something we always try to teach our students.”