Students work hard to raise travel funds

Germanfest, movie night help high school choir and West Homer 6th graders

By Naomi Klouda
Homer Tribune

The Homer High School Choir has undertaken an ambitious slate of fundraisers to gain money for a trip to Germany over spring break, culminating in an evening of “Germanfest” Saturday at the Elks Lodge.
A group of students at West Homer Elementary also are working hard to raise money for an end-of-the school year trip to Anchorage involving visits to the Imaginarium, the Alaska Heritage Center and other adventures along the way. They are planning a showing of the newly released movie “Up,” made by the same folks who brought “Toy Story” and “Monsters Inc.”
The choir has a way to go to put the funding together to send about 60 students to Germany – nearly $180,000 is the total cost. But they have come a long way in their endeavors, working all summer by holding yard sales, bake sales, car washes, donation jars, even hiring themselves out to staff the booths at the Ninilchik State Fair.
“I’m very proud of them. They have worked so hard,” said parent Laurie Coates, organizing the students’ endeavors. “They have been working their hearts out.”
The biggest fundraiser comes in two parts – a cash raffle that will net some lucky person $10,000, and the choir $15,000 toward its Germany trip, and the “Germanfest,” a night of food and fun for the community. Some 500 raffle tickets were sold for $50 each, with just a few remaining. The cost of the Germanfest is $8 in advance and $10 at the door.
The evening starts at 5 p.m., with musical entertainment to be provided by Atz and Atz Lee Kilcher, as well as other Kilcher family members joining in with the school choir. German fare will be served downstairs at the Elks, a round of brats, sausages and salads. A silent auction will be going on after dinner, featuring items donated to the choir by local businesses, Coates said.
“Local businesses have donated wonderful things to us. And we will have door prizes, so anyone who bought a cash raffle ticket gets an extra door prize ticket,” Coates said.
Each student’s trip costs $3,400. But with adding in Permanent Fund Dividend checks and through the fundraisers, students are on their way. The students will join singing engagements in cathedrals, churches and at a memorial service in a former Nazi Concentration Camp.
“What it will open their eyes to, is just priceless,” Coates said.
West Homer Elementary also has a lot of small fundraisers in mind to help students raise money for their end-of-the year trips. These trips cost about $150 per student, with fundraisers used to help cut that cost down so that more families can afford them. Typically, the younger grades attend camp across Kachemak Bay at Peterson or the Kasitna lab. Fifth and sixth graders go to Anchorage, Kenai or Seward to attend cultural events at the end of the school year.
Watch for movies and sales campaigns at West Homer this fall that will be a good chance for everything family entertainment to shopping for Christmas, while also donating to a worthy cause. At the school this Friday, one fundraiser features Disney’s latest Pixar movie, “Up,” directed by Pete Docter in his second feature-length film after Monsters, Inc. It features the voices of Edward Asner, Christopher Plummer, Bob Peterson, and Jordan Nagai.
The film centers around a grumpy old man named Carl Fredricksen and an overly eager Boy Scout named Russell who fly to South America in a floating house suspended from helium balloons.
Melissa Cloud’s combination 5th and 6th grade class has its own special challenges since they will not be traveling with other 5th or 6th grade classes. But they have a memorable adventure planned in mid-May that begins at the Kenai Challenger Center, takes a tour of the new Imaginarium located at the Anchorage’s Museum’s new addition, a look at the Heritage Native Center exhibits, and then a float down the Kenai River.
“We are all raising money together, but we have different trips going. We will be staying in our own group,” Cloud said.
“Up”, just coming on out on DVD, will be shown Friday from 6:30 – 8 p.m. for $2 for person or $5 for the whole family. The event will feature a concession stand to sell pizza, Root beer floats, candy and popcorn. The sixth graders will split the proceeds from the movie/concession funds raised.
“We are trying to get the costs down so families can support it. I have some students who have never been to Anchorage except to travel through it,” Cloud said. “Every year, there is a big culminating educational, fun trip that we work toward. All of the grade levels at West Homer try to do year end field trips and culminating activities that help bring the year’s learning alive for students and provide them with opportunities they might not otherwise have access to. The fundraising efforts we do help make these trips affordable.”

Contact the writer
Posted by Newsroom on Nov 11th, 2009 and filed under Entertainment. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

Subscribe via RSS

Subscribe via email