The week of April 19-22 was not a normal week at all at Bountiful Elementary!  In fact, it was not odd to see students walking around in their pajamas or students pelting their Principal with silly string. Or perhaps you would see a student walking around with their favorite stuffed animal just like it was totally normal and something they did every day. 

All of this is due to PTA president Brittany Cales.   

“Brittany is our awesome PTA president, she did most of the work,” said Bountiful Elementary Principal Kristen McDonough. The week was called “Breaking the Tension,” and was designed to give students the opportunity to do fun things they didn’t normally get to do while raising money for their school. One of the reasons it lasted a whole week long was to give everyone a better chance of having the opportunity to participate.

Bountiful Elementary is met with some unique challenges and so it does a lot to support students and their community. Just a few months ago their Bountiful Rack free thrift shop was featured in our education section. Although not a Title I school, their student body represents a wide range of socioeconomic statuses.  Because of this, they decided to set a goal that students felt like was attainable.  

“We set the bar pretty low--our goal was to raise $1,500,” said McDonough. They raised money by sending home a form with each child with a list of various fun “break the tension” activities and a cost for each one. One of them was so outrageous--it was to have a teacher dress up like a hot dog and then let students put ketchup and mustard all over them if they were able to raise $50. 

“I think the silly-string fight with the principal was by far the most popular activity. The kids loved that,” said Cales. If their $1,500 goal was met, Principal McDonough agreed to be in a crazy video involving silly string.

At the bottom of the form was a place where someone could donate money for another student so they could do an activity even if they didn’t have the money themselves to participate. 

“We ended up making $400 on donations alone, which turned out to be 10% of the total raised,” said Cales.  Not only did every student get to participate, but by Thursday they had raised enough money to give every teacher $20 of discretionary money to be spent for the class.

The inspiring thing about this story is they easily surpassed their goal. They raised a total of $4,150. 

“It was really touching to see the generosity grow as the week went on. Students kept bringing in dollars to donate for other students to have the opportunity to participate,” Cales said.

The funds raised from this event went directly to teachers and staff.  The proceeds fund field trips, classroom projects, art classes from outside artists, grants and anything else that teachers need for their students.