By Sarah Mosinski
Audubon FFA food fundraising packets The Audubon High School students are very busy devoting their time to fundraising for many different groups this fall. From selling band food, FFA fruit and candies to selling Student Publication ads and prom magazine sales, the students are selling to family members, friends and other community members around town. The fundraising supports all kinds of school-related activities and goals. Fundraising is a great learning experience for the students; getting out of their comfort zones by talking to community members builds character.
Mr. Bob Hoffmann, the high school’s band director, and the Band Boosters hold a fundraiser every fall. They have the band members sell food, such as frozen cookie dough, frozen pizzas, and frozen cheesecakes, to raise money for their band trip. The band has made a few changes over the years. Selling in the spring was recently added to the way students can earn money. Giving motivation to the students who sell, this new company gives away prizes to students who sell food. The band boosters took away a dinner where the band members would serve their guests and bus tables. “We dropped doing one of the dinners…so we aren’t hitting people up more often. [Selling food in the spring] is just a different thing,” said Hoffmann. Letting the younger students participate in the fundraising is new for the band, too. “By having the kids start selling when they are in elementary school and junior high raising funds, hopefully they will have a lot more money saved up in their accounts so when they go on the trip it will be easier for them to go,” said Hoffmann.
The Audubon FFA chapter is changing things up quite a bit this year. “The Audubon FFA Officers have team leaders; each officer ‘drafted’ FFA members to be on their team. Each week, team goals are set and challenges are made," said Mrs. Brittney Elmquist, the agriculture teacher. This new system involves every member. “More members are actively selling because they do not want to let their teams down. And, it is also embarrassing to report ‘0’ items sold when the counts are done weekly,” Elmquist said. This fundraiser is very effective and brings quite a bit of profit in. Profits help fund many of the FFA activities throughout the year. “A majority [of the money] is spent to send members to the Washington Leadership Conference in Washington D.C. in the summer, sending members to the National Convention and attending the numerous camps and conferences in Iowa,” said Elmquist.
The FFA is also known for giving back to the community for various projects. “Selling fruit is my favorite way to promote and support our chapter! It is great to see so many community members helping us out by buying from the [FFA] members," sophomore officer Emily Campbell said.
Every year juniors sell magazines to help pay for their caps and gowns for graduation and decorations for prom. Sponsors, Amanda Knuth and Carrie Bauer, put a lot of work into collecting and keeping the juniors on the right track to meet all their goals. Previous years by reaching their goals, students were able to pay for their caps and gowns. This prevents the students from having to pay out of pocket for their graduation attire. After paying off the expenses for caps and gown, the juniors use the left over money to pay for prom decorations. Each junior is obligated to sell up to a certain amount of magazines. If their goal is not made, then they have the opportunity to work at a concession stand through out the year. Like other fundraisers, magazine sales have changed drastically. “I think the biggest way they have changed is that over the years it used to be that we just sold magazines. We had it all on paper and now we have so many more things they can buy,” said Bauer regarding the updates. Buying magazines online has been a popular addition as well.
Under the direction of Miss Laura Granger, the Student Publications staff goes out every year in the fall to sell yearbook sponsor ads. The staff receives support from businesses from all over the Audubon County area, and also including some businesses in Atlantic and Carroll. The sponsorships go from $100 to $25 and go toward publishing the yearbook, attending workshops and purchasing camera equipment. “As of right now, the sales are pretty comparable to last years. Maybe we’ve hit a plateau [towards our goal] and can’t climb much further, but not for lack of effort on. We are fortunate to have such a supportive community,” Granger said. In addition to mailings, the staff is given two half days to go out and sell ads. “They did a great job seeking out new businesses this year,” said Granger. Getting the most ad sales is a competition amongst the teams.
Fundraising is a great way to build teamwork and learn valuable life skills. Student Publications staff member Molly Armentrout said, “Getting closer to [selling partner] Sarah Mosinski, knowing we were going to be a really good team together, and then selling over $1,000 dollars in ads, making us the winners, was a lot of fun!”
Mr. Bob Hoffmann, the high school’s band director, and the Band Boosters hold a fundraiser every fall. They have the band members sell food, such as frozen cookie dough, frozen pizzas, and frozen cheesecakes, to raise money for their band trip. The band has made a few changes over the years. Selling in the spring was recently added to the way students can earn money. Giving motivation to the students who sell, this new company gives away prizes to students who sell food. The band boosters took away a dinner where the band members would serve their guests and bus tables. “We dropped doing one of the dinners…so we aren’t hitting people up more often. [Selling food in the spring] is just a different thing,” said Hoffmann. Letting the younger students participate in the fundraising is new for the band, too. “By having the kids start selling when they are in elementary school and junior high raising funds, hopefully they will have a lot more money saved up in their accounts so when they go on the trip it will be easier for them to go,” said Hoffmann.
The Audubon FFA chapter is changing things up quite a bit this year. “The Audubon FFA Officers have team leaders; each officer ‘drafted’ FFA members to be on their team. Each week, team goals are set and challenges are made," said Mrs. Brittney Elmquist, the agriculture teacher. This new system involves every member. “More members are actively selling because they do not want to let their teams down. And, it is also embarrassing to report ‘0’ items sold when the counts are done weekly,” Elmquist said. This fundraiser is very effective and brings quite a bit of profit in. Profits help fund many of the FFA activities throughout the year. “A majority [of the money] is spent to send members to the Washington Leadership Conference in Washington D.C. in the summer, sending members to the National Convention and attending the numerous camps and conferences in Iowa,” said Elmquist.
The FFA is also known for giving back to the community for various projects. “Selling fruit is my favorite way to promote and support our chapter! It is great to see so many community members helping us out by buying from the [FFA] members," sophomore officer Emily Campbell said.
Every year juniors sell magazines to help pay for their caps and gowns for graduation and decorations for prom. Sponsors, Amanda Knuth and Carrie Bauer, put a lot of work into collecting and keeping the juniors on the right track to meet all their goals. Previous years by reaching their goals, students were able to pay for their caps and gowns. This prevents the students from having to pay out of pocket for their graduation attire. After paying off the expenses for caps and gown, the juniors use the left over money to pay for prom decorations. Each junior is obligated to sell up to a certain amount of magazines. If their goal is not made, then they have the opportunity to work at a concession stand through out the year. Like other fundraisers, magazine sales have changed drastically. “I think the biggest way they have changed is that over the years it used to be that we just sold magazines. We had it all on paper and now we have so many more things they can buy,” said Bauer regarding the updates. Buying magazines online has been a popular addition as well.
Under the direction of Miss Laura Granger, the Student Publications staff goes out every year in the fall to sell yearbook sponsor ads. The staff receives support from businesses from all over the Audubon County area, and also including some businesses in Atlantic and Carroll. The sponsorships go from $100 to $25 and go toward publishing the yearbook, attending workshops and purchasing camera equipment. “As of right now, the sales are pretty comparable to last years. Maybe we’ve hit a plateau [towards our goal] and can’t climb much further, but not for lack of effort on. We are fortunate to have such a supportive community,” Granger said. In addition to mailings, the staff is given two half days to go out and sell ads. “They did a great job seeking out new businesses this year,” said Granger. Getting the most ad sales is a competition amongst the teams.
Fundraising is a great way to build teamwork and learn valuable life skills. Student Publications staff member Molly Armentrout said, “Getting closer to [selling partner] Sarah Mosinski, knowing we were going to be a really good team together, and then selling over $1,000 dollars in ads, making us the winners, was a lot of fun!”
RSS Feed