School Spotlight: Fundraising with STEAM
2 Min Read • Funding
As most of us know, schools often need fundraisers throughout the year to support various programs and purchase much needed supplies for their classrooms. These typically involve parents selling various candles, bags and wrapping paper to help support the school goals. Waterloo Elementary in Monroe, Michigan has taken a different approach to their fundraising efforts.
Fundraising with STEAM in Mind
Instead of parents doing the fundraising, students are the ones making change – literally. The school has implemented the STEAM Shoppe as a winter fundraiser event.
Students design the Shoppe, create the items for sale, and run the Shoppe during the holiday season so that other students can purchase items as gifts for family members. This provides students with the experience of entrepreneurship, creativity, marketing, sales, and more.
School principal Meghan Gibson has been utilizing EducationCloset resources with her staff and together, they came up with this new way to bring meaningful learning experiences to their students.
“There are so many life lessons that are part of this process – it’s really exciting to be a part of something like this,” Ms. Gibson said.
STEAM from Start to Finish
Not only are students learning specific skills like counting money (math), creating their items from recycled materials using design principles (engineering and the arts), and persuasive writing (through their marketing work), they are applying these skills in a culminating project that has a real impact.
2nd grade teacher Morgan Valentine explains that this is a way for her students to “create things to sell for a purpose”. The sale of these items benefits the school as well as the community.
Next time you consider planning a school fundraiser, try creating your own version of Waterloo’s STEAM Shoppe. These gifts go beyond their price tag – it’s a way to make STEAM learning come to life.
This article is part of our new School Spotlight series. This series highlights schools, classrooms and teachers using Arts Integration and STEAM in exciting new ways. Have a story to share? Contact us here with the details!
