Annual Fundraiser
The PTA's annual fundraiser using Raise Craze, a direct donation fundraiser that encourages students to commit acts of kindness, ran from November 1 - 25, 2022. We surpassed our fundraising goal, raising a total of $21,148, and our students completed 1228 Acts of Kindness!
The funds raised will help fund storage cubbies for outside the cafeteria, improvements to our school's technology infrastructure, and rewards for the Colt Character program.
Advise classes and students recognized for their achievements during the fundraiser are:
Top fundraising Advise classes: Ms. Bergkamp, Mrs. Buffington.
These classes will challenge Mrs. Halingstad and staff to dodgeball on Wednesday, December 8th during Seminar while all sixth grade Advise classes are in the gym; Ms. Bergkamp's Advise will keep the trophy for the year.
Most Acts of Kindness completed by an Advise class: Mr. Peel
Mr. Peel and one of the students that completed the most Acts of Kindness from his Advise class whose name will be drawn will get a pedicure with Mrs. Halingstad; Mr. Peel's Advise will keep the trophy for the year.
Top fundraising students: Drystin W., Turner J., Kale T., and Emerson B..
Drystin and Turner will each receive an iPad, and Kale and Emerson will each receive a $50 Amazon gift card.
Most Acts of Kindness completed by individual students: Lilith S., Sunshine J., and Dahlia W..
Lilith, Sunshine, and Dahlia will each receive a $25 Amazon gift card.
The students selected in the drawing from students that raised $100 or more, or completed 10 or more Acts of Kindness were Owen P., who received the Conifer Bike Shop tune-up and t-shirt, and Justin G., who received a $25 Liks gift card.
Students that completed their full Kindness Bingo card were recognized with a $15 gift card:
6th grade: Logan A., Morgan A., Teagan B., Brandon B., Colton B., Addison F., Libby R., Henri van N., Adam Z., and Ryan Z.
7th grade: Kai B., Charlie F., Sunshine J., and Colin S..
8th grade: Emerson B., Selam D., Saturn K., Owen O., Bryce P., Saige R., Ella R., Quinn S., Oliver S., Luke S., Lilith S., Maya W., and Lilian W..
The Canyon Courier featured the celebration of exceeding our goal with Mrs. Halingstad in a dunk tank on the cover of their December 14, 2022 issue:
Falling for her students: West Jeff Middle principal Halingstad braves a dunk tank as a reward for kindness (archived PDF copy available on our Press Clippings page)
Our PTA thanks the following local business sponsors of our 2022-2023 Raise Craze kindness fundraiser:
2021-2022 Raise Craze kindness fundraiser
In the 2021-2022 school year, the PTA ran its first kindness fundraiser with Raise Craze. The event raised a total of $20,015 to fund our PTA classroom grant program, student enrichment and programs (dances, 8th grade Continuation, school store, field trips), and outdoor enrichment such as sports equipment and enhancing outdoor spaces for students.
Advise classes and students recognized for their achievements during the fundraiser were the top fundraising Advise class (Matschullat), the most Acts of Kindness completed by an Advise class (Little), the top fundraising students (Franklin B., Rusty M., Luke T.), and the most Acts of Kindness completed by individual students (Emery F., Harlan G., Bryce P.).
Clash of the Classrooms (2020-2021 fundraiser)
In the 2020-2021 school year, the PTA ran Clash of the Classrooms, a direct donation fundraiser where homeroom classes competed to raise funds over a six-week period. The fall 2020 event raised over $5000 for classroom technology. Evergreen Orthodontic Specialists sponsored prizes of gift cards for the highest overall fundraising homeroom (Wooldridge), the highest overall individual fundraising student (Holly D.), and the highest fundraising homeroom class in each grade for each week during the fundraiser (Buffington, Dignan, Hannawacker, Sherman, Wiechec, Williams - 3 weeks, and Wooldridge - 4 weeks).
Fence Sign Advertising
Area businesses interested in advertising at our school along the fence surrounding the school driveway and parking lot may work with our PTA to rent a portion of the fence to display a 4' x 8' laminated aluminum composite sign. All profits from advertising go into the West Jefferson Middle PTA general fund that provides events, programming, and support to West Jefferson Middle School. Zuni Signs in Evergreen will discount the initial cost of the sign for businesses advertising at our school; other sign providers may be used with a sign proof approved by school administration. The annual rental fees vary depending on the location.
Please refer to the WJMS PTA Fence Sign Sponsor Letter for more information on this program.
Individual Classroom Fundraising
Individual teachers at our school may use DonorsChoose.org for classroom projects.
Other Fundraising Opportunities
For many years, the school had a collection bucket in the commons for Box Tops for Education clips; the proceeds supported purchasing playground balls for the recess cart, which is maintained by our counselors. The program has changed to use a mobile application where users scan their store receipt within two weeks after purchasing Box Tops products.
The PTA participates in AmazonSmile, a program that donates 0.5% of every Amazon purchase you make at no extra cost to the user. If you shop with the Amazon mobile app, you can select our PTA as your charity by selecting the main menu (=), then Programs & Features, then AmazonSmile. From there, choose "West Jefferson Middle School PTSA" as your charity and follow the on-screen instructions to activate AmazonSmile in the mobile app. If you shop from a computer or mobile browser, simply go to smile.amazon.com/ch/23-7113962 and confirm West Jefferson Middle School PTSA as your charity.