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The kids need help....... Odyssey Of The Mind

Pete

By Pete
in The Tailgate

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Pete

Pete

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Hey folks, I have a problem and hope some here are willing to help out a little. I normally wouldn't do this, but the kids are in a tight spot. My daughter Gabrielle is a freshman in high school, and has been involved in something called Odyssey of the mind for the past three years. The link below will give you an idea of what it's all about far better then I could.

Odyssey Of the Mind home page

She was on two teams this year, and both advanced to the state finals. One of her teams came in 4th, and the other in 2nd which allows them to advance to the world finals. The kids have worked their butts off all year, but a stumbling block was just thrown in their way to the world finals.

The school has informed us that district rules state a teacher must go to the finals with the team. Making it even worse, because we have a co-ed team, we may have to have two teachers, one male and one female. The kicker is, the team has to pay their way :( Even if the school or district had the money, which they don't, because this falls under the heading of clubs, they have to raise their own funds for any and all costs.

We have little time to raise around two thousand dollars to cover transportation and lodging if it winds up to be two were paying for. It's spring brake this week, and the kids have been in front of local shopping centers trying to raise funds instead of having a good time on their week off.

This is what brings me to the members of Extremeskins. If anybody would like to help out five good kids, contact me via E-mail

Every little bit helps.

:cheers:

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Blondie

Blondie

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Does your district have an education foundation?

Is there a business in your area that could sponsor as contribution to non profit?

Good luck.

My budget was very tight this year, and my students had fund raisers in order to go on their over night trip this year.

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Pete

Pete

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Does your district have an education foundation?

Is there a business in your area that could sponsor as contribution to non profit?

Good luck.

My budget was very tight this year, and my students had fund raisers in order to go on their over night trip this year.

I don't know about the foundation, but being my wife works for the district, I would think she would have thought of that. Great thought, and I will double check to make sure. Our district is making cutbacks right now, more then a few people have lost jobs, and a large number have taken cuts in pay. Even if the school / district had money, they concider this a club, and are not obligated to give any funding.

We've sent out about 200 letters to local businesses, and have gotten two small contributions thus far. Our area is in a bad way right now, and people are not parting with much. Retail is a bad, and the other main industry here is building, which is a complete disaster.

The kids have done fund raising throughout the year, and it's gotten them this far. As I said in my first post, the unexpected expense of having to pay for the teachers to come along is what's messing us up. We had the trip covered pretty much until then.

It's not like were on a trip that we can drive a few hours, with a two night stay at a hotel. Were talkin air fair, and room and board for a week for two people that we were informed about at the last minute. If the school had told us about teachers from the start, it would have been planned for. It's not an OM rule, it's our districts.

:cheers:

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DjTj

DjTj

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I don't know about the foundation, but being my wife works for the district, I would think she would have thought of that. Great thought, and I will double check to make sure. Our district is making cutbacks right now, more then a few people have lost jobs, and a large number have taken cuts in pay. Even if the school / district had money, they concider this a club, and are not obligated to give any funding.
Is your school in Lee County?

http://www.leeschoolfoundation.org/index.html

It doesn't look like it will necessarily help though ...

I have been researching these educational foundations recently for a fundraising issue for my high school. The housing bust has hit school districts hard all over the country. It might be more red tape than you're willing to go through, but it might be worth trying to contact them to see if they're willing to act as maybe just a conduit for the money, because donations to the foundation would be tax deductible.

I did Odyssey of the Mind briefly in elementary school. It's a good program, and I hope you can make it work.

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Pete

Pete

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Is your school in Lee County?

http://www.leeschoolfoundation.org/index.html

It doesn't look like it will necessarily help though ...

I have been researching these educational foundations recently for a fundraising issue for my high school. The housing bust has hit school districts hard all over the country. It might be more red tape than you're willing to go through, but it might be worth trying to contact them to see if they're willing to act as maybe just a conduit for the money, because donations to the foundation would be tax deductible.

I did Odyssey of the Mind briefly in elementary school. It's a good program, and I hope you can make it work.

Ya, we're Lee county. We'll be speaking with the foundation first thing Monday mornng to see what we can do quickly.

:cheers:

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Blondie

Blondie

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I don't know about the foundation, but being my wife works for the district, I would think she would have thought of that. Great thought, and I will double check to make sure. Our district is making cutbacks right now, more then a few people have lost jobs, and a large number have taken cuts in pay. Even if the school / district had money, they concider this a club, and are not obligated to give any funding.

We've sent out about 200 letters to local businesses, and have gotten two small contributions thus far. Our area is in a bad way right now, and people are not parting with much. Retail is a bad, and the other main industry here is building, which is a complete disaster.

The kids have done fund raising throughout the year, and it's gotten them this far. As I said in my first post, the unexpected expense of having to pay for the teachers to come along is what's messing us up. We had the trip covered pretty much until then.

It's not like were on a trip that we can drive a few hours, with a two night stay at a hotel. Were talkin air fair, and room and board for a week for two people that we were informed about at the last minute. If the school had told us about teachers from the start, it would have been planned for. It's not an OM rule, it's our districts.

:cheers:

I can't imagine telling my students they had to pay for the sponsors. Just would not happen. Sponsors should know going into the organization what costs will be on them. This just sounds crazy for them to expect the kids and their parents to pay for them.

I do understand about budget cuts and lack of funds. This is the first year I am not able to pay for the mileage and food costs for a summer workshop. Teachers are having to pay for that part themselves..........IF.....they want to go anywhere.

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Pete

Pete

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I can't imagine telling my students they had to pay for the sponsors. Just would not happen. Sponsors should know going into the organization what costs will be on them. This just sounds crazy for them to expect the kids and their parents to pay for them.

I do understand about budget cuts and lack of funds. This is the first year I am not able to pay for the mileage and food costs for a summer workshop. Teachers are having to pay for that part themselves..........IF.....they want to go anywhere.

I hear ya kiddo, it's crazy everywhere. We'll be well prepared come next year if nothing else.

Wish i could help....Good luck!

Thanks, and no worries.

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Pete

Pete

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The latest update.......... The Lee County Schools Foundation informed us that they do not get involved with this type of event, so we're on our own.

The school has also told us that we can no longer stand infront of the local supermarkets which was was doing well for us. We also aren't allowed to have raffles being both are against their rules. :doh:

:cheers:

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dfitzo53

dfitzo53

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The latest update.......... The Lee County Schools Foundation informed us that they do not get involved with this type of event, so we're on our own.

The school has also told us that we can no longer stand infront of the local supermarkets which was was doing well for us. We also aren't allowed to have raffles being both are against their rules. :doh:

:cheers:

Do you have Fuddrucker's restaurants down there? I saw a sign on the door on the one up here that you can register for a night, and 15% of the money people spend on their food goes to your cause or something like that. I forget the details, and promoting it is up to you, but it's something to look into, or you might even ask around other restaurants.

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Pete

Pete

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Do you have Fuddrucker's restaurants down there? I saw a sign on the door on the one up here that you can register for a night, and 15% of the money people spend on their food goes to your cause or something like that. I forget the details, and promoting it is up to you, but it's something to look into, or you might even ask around other restaurants.

No, we don't have that restaurant, but we should have a deal set up like that for next weekend with a local pizza place within the next day or so.

We're also setting up a pizza day at the school. Which ever class raises the most money in a week gets a pizza day. It seems to be a fairly popular way to raise money in the school itself, and we may also be getting the pizza's donated.

We're moving along slowly, but surely

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dfitzo53

dfitzo53

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No, we don't have that restaurant, but we should have a deal set up like that for next weekend with a local pizza place within the next day or so.

We're also setting up a pizza day at the school. Which ever class raises the most money in a week gets a pizza day. It seems to be a fairly popular way to raise money in the school itself, and we may also be getting the pizza's donated.

We're moving along slowly, but surely

Another one that high school kids really get into is Penny Wars.

Each class has a designated locker (Freshman, Sophomore, Junior, Senior). The idea is that you put pennies into your class's locker by slipping them through the slits in the locker. Each penny is worth 1 point. However, all other coins/bills are worth their value in negative points. So a nickel is -5 points, and a 10 dollar bill is a whopping -1000 points. You want to put those into other teams lockers of course. The class with the highest score at the end of the fundraiser gets a pizza party or somesuch, and it can generate a nice chunk of change.

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Pete

Pete

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Another one that high school kids really get into is Penny Wars.

Each class has a designated locker (Freshman, Sophomore, Junior, Senior). The idea is that you put pennies into your class's locker by slipping them through the slits in the locker. Each penny is worth 1 point. However, all other coins/bills are worth their value in negative points. So a nickel is -5 points, and a 10 dollar bill is a whopping -1000 points. You want to put those into other teams lockers of course. The class with the highest score at the end of the fundraiser gets a pizza party or somesuch, and it can generate a nice chunk of change.

That's pretty much how the one at the school is set up, only they don't use lockers.

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