Last month the PTA Ways and Means committee sent out a survey about fundraising events that our school participated in during the year. I would like to say thanks to those who provided feedback about the fundraising efforts for 2007-08. This information will be taken into con-sideration when decisions are made for next year's PTA fundraising budget. Also, as a result of the survey and subsequent conversations, we wanted to clarify some questions about fundraising.

Did you know ... The yearly Book Fair is a fundraising event for the Media Center? All funds raised are used to purchase addi-tional titles for the Media Center. PTA provides the volunteer hours, but the Media Center and the students directly profit from this endeavor. There is not a “media center specific” budget provided by the state or the county. Each school sets aside a portion of its total school budget to be used to purchase additional resources for the media center. The recommended amount is $5.00 per child per year. With the additional monies raised by the Book Fair, our media center is able to provide additional resources for children above and beyond what we normally could do in a year.

the media center. The recommended amount is $5.00 per child per year. With the additional monies raised by the Book Fair, our media center is able to provide additional resources for children above and beyond what we normally could do in a year.

Ident-a-Kid is an example of a “service” provided to parents, but it is not a fund-raiser. The Ident-a-Kid program provides the school with laminated ID badges that the students use on field trips. The school does not receive a monetary award from Ident-a-Kid, but parents receive a current picture ID and fingerprint of their child.

The Campbell's Soup labels and the box tops provide money or materials to the school. PTA provides the parent volunteers to collect these items and redeem them for the school. One of the items collected can only be redeemed for equipment while the other pays money directly to the school. Part of the money is paying for the shade structure on the 2-5 playground that we hope to be using as you are reading this article!

Your PTA dollars are at work to benefit all the students at TCE! While the primary purpose of PTA is to be an advocate for all students, we appreciate the monetary and manpower base of support.