Why Does Our PTA Fundraise?

You’re a PTA Member. Awesome! But that’s just the first step. Your membership fee mostly goes to WA State PTA’s funding of statewide PTA training/advocacy. However, Lockwood PTA still needs local funding to do its work at Lockwood Elementary. What work, you may ask? We’re so glad you asked! Here’s what we do:

Student Enrichment (-$11K+ net)

Probably the most visible to families are Student Enrichments. We typically give up to $7,000 in financial support for field trips (including scholarships for families that can’t financially contribute to the cost). That line item is currently on hold, but that doesn’t mean we aren’t still pumping financial support into student enrichment. Still on track are the $1,000+ we put into funding the Art Docent Program (paints, clay, oil pastels and more for art lessons in every classroom), the Annual Science Fair and Annual Egg Drop are two STEM-activities that cost us another $1,000. We spend another few hundred on Reflections, a state-wide art contest. And a few hundred more on snacks during the Smarter Balance testing time. And, of course, clubs like Chess, Robotics, and Yoga will likely make a return in the Spring.

Family Events (-$500 net)

While it looks like we don’t spend a lot in family events, it’s only because the true cost is hidden by the income from ticket and food sales. This category is where you’d find the Art Walk (a showcase of your child’s amazing work throughout the year), the Spring Family Dance (planned for outside this year if the weather holds!), the Ice Cream Social (transformed into “Pops of PTA” this year for Covid reasons), Multicultural Night, Game Nights, Movie Nights, and more.

Classroom Stipends (-$8K+ net)

Did you know we give every classroom a stipend of $200 to purchase materials, books, programs, and more for your child’s use in the class? As much as we can help it, we don’t want these expenses coming out of your teacher’s pockets. And so, we use our resources (as members of the PTA) to subsidize these substantial costs for our teachers.

Grants & Other Gifts to School (-$11k+ net)

If a teacher needs more than $200 for a special project (like Salmon equipment, Gardening supplies, a set of books for the entire class, etc.), we also have a generous Grants process where teachers can apply for special funding (from a pool of $6K this year!). Did you know we pay for a media license so that teachers can play videos in their classrooms? Did you know we often fund grab-and-go snacks for teachers to show them our appreciation? We have money for the health room, for the playground, for the library, for the music rooms, for the gym, and much more. 

Everything Else (-$8K net)

And there are so many more things—bank fees, copy expenses, accounting software, Zoom licenses, web hosting, storage fees, insurance costs, and PO Box fees, office supplies, tax filing fees, leadership training dues, and on and on. These are all the overhead that we need to pay just to operate.

What Does All This Mean?

It means we need your financial support. We need you (and your family and friends) to invest in Leopard Laps (Oct 1!). We need you to set up company matching and use amazon smile to support us. We need you to go to dine-out events, donate in pass-the-hats drives, and purchase books at the book fair. We need you to not think of this as an obligation but rather as an investment into your child. On average the PTA spends over $103 on each child. For us to do our work, we need you to raise at least that much for each of your children to fund PTA’s support of your children, your children’s teachers, and your children’s school.