Everything (and a little more) About Boosterthon

THE KENNEDY SCHOOL EMBRACES A NEW APPROACH TO FUNDRAISING, PROMOTING HEALTH, AND COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT, BUT SHOULD WE DO IT AGAIN NEXT YEAR?

BY CASH HARDY, SEBASTIAN LOPES-FILHO, AND JACK MATSUZAKI

We deeply appreciate our Kennedy School PTA and all those involved with the Boosterthon. We believe that they work for an honorable cause.

WHAT IS A BOOSTERTHON?

The PTA got the idea of Boosterthon from the West Somerville School, which had put on the Boosterthon numerous times. The Boosterthon is a community event and fundraiser for the whole school. All money raised was for the PTA, who uses it for field trips and other activities. Buses for field trips are expensive, as they start at $500 for close trips ($150 hour additional for farther trips). There are also usually two buses per grade level. For example, the 8th grade trip to Kimball Farm is $750 per bus! Other PTA-funded activities include assemblies, after school events like Kids Night Out, and community events like the Ice Cream Social and Harvest Fest.

Getting Started

Teachers first got information about the Boosterthon on February 8th. They learned about the basic things, like what it was about and what we would be doing. As the weeks grew closer, we started seeing posters around the school about the Boosterthon. Then, the Grand Land Adventure videos emerged out of the blue, which showcased a series of short videos providing information about the Boosterthon.

At least, that’s what they were supposed to do. They didn’t provide much information about the Boosterthon itself. Most of the videos were about a few kids unlocking a puzzle box using documentaries of national parks. One of the 2nd graders said, “most of the videos were funny, but some of the jokes did not land.” Other kids really liked the videos and looked forward to seeing them each day. Overall though, they weren’t informative about the Boosterthon or what to expect for the Glow Run, which was the Boosterthon’s “grand finale”.

We were shown the videos over ten days, starting on March 10th. During that time, kids could get pledges for the number of laps they’d run during the final Glow Run. You could also earn rewards based on the number of pledges you get.

READY, SET, RUN!

Finally, on March 20th, the Glow Run began, with different classes going on different days. All students could take part, even if they didn’t raise any money. When we walked into the gymnasium that day, we saw all the PTA members waving pom poms. The Glow Run track was set up in the gym, and the lights were completely off ! There was a tunnel that you couldn’t touch (or you’d face the wrath of the Random Boosterthon Guy), and a tent that had a funky DJ.

We were greeted by the Boosterthon Man, who was very tall. He told us the rules and directions. Towards the end of the run, the DJ yelled out when there was 5 minutes, 3 minutes, and one minute to go.

The parents and Boosterthon crew offered pom-poms and prizes, and the people from the company were kind and put a lot of work into the run. These people brought all the equipment and set it up for Kennedy too. Overall it was fun, but maybe would have worked better if it had been outside. As Fiona from 6th grade says, “It was very crammed and there wasn’t much room to run.”

In the end though, we raised a lot of money, and we salute our Kennedy School PTA and all those involved with the Booster company. So what do you think, should we do a Boosterthon again in the future? c

The Final Stats

The Kennedy School raised $20,207, which is above our $20,000 goal. Our students ran 14,000 laps and received donations from all 50 states. We received donations from France, Mexico, South Korea, and Taiwan.

Mrs. Hedges’ 2nd grade class raised the most money, which was followed by Ms. Ward’s 6th grade homeroom and Ms. Merrill’s 3rd grade class.

$10,000 has been allocated to buses, meaning that 2 buses can be given to each grade!