S/O Parents not wanting to pay

[FaithManor]

the church is sponsoring the school.  The fundraising they already do covers teacher salaries. ( Tuition doesn't pay it all. )  All the extra-curricular are responsible for paying for their own costs.  Just the way it is. They are doing the best they can and want to provide a service for the community and keep costs as low as possible.  I've pretty much bought all the sheet music I'm using and accompaniment tracks myself. 

I did that one year for a parochial school. Unfortunately, it is not a sustainable plan. It just isn't. I found that out the hard way, as did every director thereafter. Without a long term funding plan, and a commitment to work that out, usually these things have a very hard time staying afloat.

 

At the Lutheran school where I worked, the music and music teacher's salary along with handbells, etc., was built into tuition because it was considered a core part part of the curriculum.

 

It really would be just fine for the kids to not have matching clothing. I think that is one thing that tends to be a bit of a reach. These are kids, not professional adult groups. Sigh...however, for TARC even just for the 10 minute presentation competition the teams are supposed to at least have matching shirts. That's some big expense for 10 minutes. Their kids. Really. Listen to what they are presenting on, don't focus on what they are wearing. I mean, my husband does presentations all.the.time. at work and he and his co-workers do not have matching suits. Doesn't seem to affect the quality of their presentation!

 

It is unfortunately a weirdness in our culture. I get it for competitions because officials need a fast, easy way to identify what team each person belongs to because more than one group is out there at one time. But honestly, for choirs and bands, this is entirely unnecessary. No one is going out and singing Beethoven's 9th head to head in a battle of the sing offs! The audience knows who is singing because it is the only group out there and got announced. Judges don't need it either.

 

Maybe you can convince the group to not worry about clothing.

 

And for Christmas, if you really want to try, you could say "Hey, let's stick to Christmas colors. Wear your best jeans, and then any dark red, dark green, gold, or silver shirt you have." Or tell them white t-shirts, and then give them "overlays" of garland from the dollar store which would look quite festive.

[TABmom]

FaithManor- I have an idea for you! Could your robotics kids do a day camp thing for kids? They could come up with some simple projects for elementary kids and hold a day camp on a day that public schools are out. People always need sitters for those days. The logistics might be difficult, but it is something I would pay for! I would love for my kids to be able to do a couple science projects with some teens that were good role models.

[Lang Syne Boardie]

  

I agree with heigh ho. I already mentioned that you can get $2.00 t-shirts if you use coupons or watch for sales at Michaels or JoAnn.

 

Why spend $10.00 when you can spend $2.00? The quality is about the same.

 

:iagree:

 

 

If the sale t-shirts are also out of bounds, for whomever might be paying for them, then you have to deal with the reality of what you can afford.

 

If the children have to wear their own clothes to sing, then that's what you do! Maybe make a goal of getting shirts after the first paid performance or something; might be motivation for learning to sing well.

 

During the Depression era, children's groups would make matching armbands or sashes...another thing you could do for presentation would be to create a banner or sign for the group...and of course, there is uniformity in how they walk on and off the stage, and how they conduct themselves while singing. It can be enough for starters.

 

My only other thought is to ask someone else who was there, whether the black and white really looked so awful? Your standards might have been too high. :D

[FaithManor]

Well, there is the $15,000 in scholarships your kids earned.

I am not certain what this is supposed to mean. Their scholarships were earned at TARC not at the County Fair, through a season - last season - paid for exclusively out of pocket by dh and I because there was NO funding of any kind that year so we paid for others to participate. The 4H Council  funding and the program money funding was only re-instituted this year.

 

Are you suggesting that the team members should be paying for other people's projects from college scholarship money? I am not certain how that would work given that the check is cut for college, not to the 4H office.

 

If you could enlighten me about your comment, I could better elaborate.

 

If you are suggesting what I think you are suggesting, this would be the same as a livestock club member selling a steer for $3000 and then paying for other people's animals out of that. Is that what you are hinting at?

 

TAB mom, I like the idea of a camp. We'll have to see about that. It would be fun, and we do have a bank of supplies where we could do something pretty cool with a group of kids. The only issue would be doing something that only required expendable parts and supplies so that the campers could take their projects home. I think it might be a bit of a bummer if they couldn't keep the thing they worked on.

[regentrude]

Another fundraising idea that we've used in our troop is survival kits. The boys did very well, selling them to hunters the day before the big rifle seasons. They had waterproof matches, duct tape, parachute cord, whistle, small mirror, and I don't remember what all. We bought the basic kits for $2 and added to them and sold them for $10. We had a lot of fun making them and they sold well. 

 

Like the idea. If selling, at least it is something they made, or at last improved.

 

I have never understood the concept of selling something that one has purchased for a higher price as a fundraiser. I mean, of course I get that this raises money, but I don't get what it teaches children. When I came to this country, I thought gs cookies are cookies baked by girl scouts - that at least would make sense. 

Edited March 6, 2017 by regentrude

[historically accurate]

The problem is what to wear at a concert!  No formal black...that is way out of the price range.   I tried black and white for Christmas, but they didn't look so hot.  tMany of them didn't have anything other than jeans.  Jeans and a t-shirt seems like the cheapest option..    In our public schools 68 percent are on free lunch.  I would say about half of our students are one free scholarships here. 

 

My kids' choir, which runs on a shoestring, just requires dress clothes. It's explained to the kids as not what you would roll around in the mud wearing. Some come wearing dresses, some jeans, some leggings and a nice sweater - it works. For the December concert, they are asked to "be festive". We had jeans and antlers, fancy Christmas dresses, dress shirts and holiday ties, and everything in between.  

 

They're cute kids; no one has complained about their lack of uniform. They did have T-shirts available for purchase one year, so some of the kids wear those. 

[unsinkable]

I am not certain what this is supposed to mean. Their scholarships were earned at TARC not at the County Fair, through a season - last season - paid for exclusively out of pocket by dh and I because there was NO funding of any kind that year so we paid for others to participate. The 4H Council funding and the program money funding was only re-instituted this year.

 

Are you suggesting that the team members should be paying for other people's projects from college scholarship money? I am not certain how that would work given that the check is cut for college, not to the 4H office.

 

If you could enlighten me about your comment, I could better elaborate.

 

If you are suggesting what I think you are suggesting, this would be the same as a livestock club member selling a steer for $3000 and then paying for other people's animals out of that. Is that what you are hinting at?

 

TAB mom, I like the idea of a camp. We'll have to see about that. It would be fun, and we do have a bank of supplies where we could do something pretty cool with a group of kids. The only issue would be doing something that only required expendable parts and supplies so that the campers could take their projects home. I think it might be a bit of a bummer if they couldn't keep the thing they worked on.

I'm suggesting your kids earned a substantial college scholarships doing something that you would have done any way, that you've done for years.

 

Your kids got a major financial benefit from it. That is something to be grateful for.

 

You're talking about wanting to sell rockets...why? Why? Your kids earned a SCHOLARSHIP worth THOUSANDS of dollars.

[wintermom]

My boys raised hundreds of dollars by playing Christmas music in the entryway of the local grocery store. They wrote a letter to the manager to ask permission to play there and they had a sign in one of the cases that said they were raising money for a school trip to Italy. Lots of people commented on how nice it was to have the music, so people enjoyed it. Plus, it wasn't really in your face. If you wanted to drop money in the case you could, but no one was asking for money.

 

The store often has people fundraising in the entryway - either selling raffle tickets or chocolate bars or whatever, so it wasn't like it was a totally weird thing to do.

 

I wonder if that would work with singing? 

 

It can work with a choir. I did this with my university choir. We'd sign up for specific dates we were available to sing Christmas songs at local shopping malls. Someone in the choir had already contacted the mall managers and set up dates we could come and sing. Only a portion of the choir has to be there, but it does require someone to lead and ensure that there is quality control (and bring a pitch pipe). We made good money doing this, and it was fun.

[kitten18]

Wow, that could be awkward.

 

"We don't eat cookies, but here's a $10.00 donation."

 

"Ok, that's 2 boxes of cookies at $4.00 a box and we owe you $2.00 change."

 

"But I don't want cookies. I just want to support your troop."

 

"JUST TAKE THE COOKIES, LADY, AND STEP AWAY FROM THE TABLE. Oh, and don't forget your change. And thank you for supporting the Girl Scouts." :)

In our Girl Scout area (don't know if they do this all over) we have "gift of caring" you can pay the $5 for a box of cookies and then a box is donated to the troops.

 

We used to have a donation jar but we didn't this year and I forgot to ask our leader about that. Probably got nixed by the council. ðŸ˜

 

For our service project we're working on a couple projects for a local homeless shelter. I think if someone really wanted to make a donation while we were doing cookie boothing, they could donate to our service project instead of to the cookie sales. 😉

Our leader has also been selling a lot of boxes of cookies at work that are being donated to the shelter. People get to support the GS, they don't have to take the cookies, and the shelter gets the cookies.

 

 

I never buy stuff from fundraisers, I always give $5-20 donation (depending on what it is).

A $5 donation is the same at buying 5 boxes($25) of cookies that I really don't want.

[FaithManor]

FM--does your county help fund 4-H? Ours does, as it is county extension office. 

 

Another thing--we have a 4-H Forever Fund that the livestock kids are encouraged to give to. The monies fund scholarships for kids' fees, and also trips to Denver, etc. My kids usually put in $20 out of their checks. It adds up. We like to see it go the groups however, NOT to individual kids' fees, as it's been our experience that if the kid doesn't pay something (like the goat club), they don't value it. 

Last year, the year that we had to fund EVERYTHING for everyone, the county did not. They do not value 4H at all, the commissioners I should say, and wanted to cut all funding for the extension office in favor of other pet projects, beautification of the courthouse and their offices being one main plan. The state provides 50% of the cost of operations but if the county will not do their 50% then the state policy is bye bye extension office. So it wasn't just 4H, it was also the Master Gardener's, Family Nutrition, Agricultural services such as soil and water testing, you name it. All gone. In one fell swoop. 

 

It was fought LONG and HARD, but there was no reasoning with them. So our 4H program director, council, and leaders in conjunction with MSU put together a ballot initiative to get a millage passed to keep it funded. It came out to $2.00 per house or business, and it passed. In order to get it passed though, in order to not detract from getting folks to be willing to vote for it, there was suspension of fundraising across the board. Some clubs folded all together as there was no money for projects and parents could not or would not, all depends on the situation, pay and others, like us, dug deep into our family budgets and paid for the programs we didn't want to see die. Some of the agriculture related businesses pooled resources to pay the 50% the oounty was supposed to pay for that one year so we wouldn't lose all of our expert staff to new jobs elsewhere. It was a nutty time. Hectic, very very stressful.

 

Now that said, the budget is bare bones. The 4H portion of the office does not even have money for postage. So there are no more mailings unless people donate money for it. The 4H secretary couldn't even get a printer toner cartridge in order to print off permission slip forms for excursions. She emailed them and told people to download, print themselves, scan, and email back. Problem is that some families didn't own a printer or didn't know how to scan a document and attach to email. Teenagers to the rescue! LOL, we had a bunch of our club members on call as "tech support", and families without printers paid 10 cents to have the forms printed at their local library, then brought them to one of our club meetings, and we let "tech support" use our printer to scan them and attach to email. 

 

That's how tight it was. This year 4H Council paid for plat books to be made. They are really, really nice and have tons of 4H photos in them besides the maps. They sold them for $35.00 each, and I think every single realtor, banker, developer, contractor, you name it in the county bought one. I think it cost them roughly $16.00 to have made. That is where the $500.00 from 4H Council came from. 

[Audrey]

Some things our 4H has done in a very tiny rural area (~700ppl):

• Pick up trash along the streets in the villages.  We asked the rural council for a donation to the club to do this.  They gave us $250 per village.
• Rent-a-Team - we went door-to-door to ask people if they wanted to rent a team of 2-4 4Hers to do yardwork. There was also a team of 4 kids who rented themselves out to do farm chores.
• Walk-a-thon - this was to raise money for the local hospital, not to keep.  The kids raised almost $7K. It's a club of only 12 kids.
• Project auction - for the kids who produced something from their projects, they would make an extra (or two) of something they thought would go over well, and we auctioned those things off at their Achievement Night. So, these were things like birdhouses and chairs from the woodworkers, garments from the sewers, baked goods from the cooks, metal sculptures from the welders, etc.  This was a suggestion from the kids who have livestock.  Their livestock gets auctioned off and they actually can keep all the money themselves.  We let the kids keep their Project Auction money, too.  It's just a fun thing for them, but you could try something like that to raise club money, too.

[Catwoman]

I believe our laws are friendly to that. I worry that it comes across tacky or suspicious. Thoughts? How likely would you be to buy something from a kid who is raising money to participate in his choir verses Girl Scout cookies?

 

 

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If I knew the kid or knew the kid from seeing him around the neighborhood, I would buy something to support him. If I had never seen him before, I would probably say no, unless he was selling something I actually wanted. :)

[Guest]

Like the idea. If selling, at least it is something they made, or at last improved.

 

I have never understood the concept of selling something that one has purchased for a higher price as a fundraiser. I mean, of course I get that this raises money, but I don't get what it teaches children. When I came to this country, I thought gs cookies are cookies baked by girl scouts - that at least would make sense.

It teaches that one can charge for convenience. Very common here for teens whose parents will not support them to use this technique for lunch money. In hot weather,fill the backpack with ice cold water bottles. Sell for a dollar each.

Ds sees it at college too, only instead of water its sneakers. these kids have skills, but adults won't hire them for one offs such as shoveling snow or leaf raking. Mine couldn't sell many scout wreaths, going rate less than all stores...people just do not want to support children. I hope karma works, because the amount I spent for food for certain extended family members that came for free food at my son's Eagle Ceremony far exceeded the contributions they made to the project and the Troop over the six years.

[LucyStoner]

I'm glad to live in a place where, for the most part, scholarships for kids activities are part of the culture. We pass all of our outgrown sports equipment down, sometimes using the league's gear closet or "soccer for all" gear donation program. In turn, I don't feel shame that I pay a sliding scale fee for soccer or that my son's summer program at the university is partially paid by need based financial aid. When we were in a position to pay full price, we did and we contributed extra for scholarships. When we are in a position to contribute extra again, we will do so.

 

The plain truth is that in any group there are a handful of people who do most of the work. It's frustrating at times to be that person and I have had to set some boundaries to ensure I don't overdo it but when I was overdoing it, no one was forcing me to make that choice. It's a choice I made and it was not a choice without some benefits to me.

 

I don't think the OP should be ashamed of trying to figure out a way to pay for an extracurricular activity. Involving the kids in that isn't a bad idea either.

[SparklyUnicorn]

It teaches that one can charge for convenience. Very common here for teens whose parents will not support them to use this technique for lunch money. In hot weather,fill the backpack with ice cold water bottles. Sell for a dollar each.

Ds sees it at college too, only instead of water its sneakers. these kids have skills, but adults won't hire them for one offs such as shoveling snow or leaf raking. Mine couldn't sell many scout wreaths, going rate less than all stores...people just do not want to support children. I hope karma works, because the amount I spent for food for certain extended family members that came for free food at my son's Eagle Ceremony far exceeded the contributions they made to the project and the Troop over the six years.

 

Hah.  Reminds me my instructor said a student called him a few years ago and asked him if he wanted to be paid since he had compiled Maple commands learned in his class that he then sold to other college students.  Instructor said no and was impressed that he was so enterprising.  But I just think oh goodness...surely all that info is not that hard to find on-line.  But I suppose it would be one less thing I'd have to do if had to study a bunch of more difficult subjects.

 

For some reason I wouldn't have the nerve to do such a thing. 

[FaithManor]

 

Some things our 4H has done in a very tiny rural area (~700ppl):

• Pick up trash along the streets in the villages.  We asked the rural council for a donation to the club to do this.  They gave us $250 per village.
• Rent-a-Team - we went door-to-door to ask people if they wanted to rent a team of 2-4 4Hers to do yardwork. There was also a team of 4 kids who rented themselves out to do farm chores.
• Walk-a-thon - this was to raise money for the local hospital, not to keep.  The kids raised almost $7K. It's a club of only 12 kids.
• Project auction - for the kids who produced something from their projects, they would make an extra (or two) of something they thought would go over well, and we auctioned those things off at their Achievement Night. So, these were things like birdhouses and chairs from the woodworkers, garments from the sewers, baked goods from the cooks, metal sculptures from the welders, etc.  This was a suggestion from the kids who have livestock.  Their livestock gets auctioned off and they actually can keep all the money themselves.  We let the kids keep their Project Auction money, too.  It's just a fun thing for them, but you could try something like that to raise club money, too.

 

These are great ideas!

[regentrude]

I am curious, were Girl Guides allowed when you were growing up?

 

I did not grow up in this country. Back home when I was a kid, we had bake sales to raise money; everything was home baked. But that was in a country not obsessed with germs.

[Bootsie]

The boys get 10% of their sales in cash, so the pack actually gets 40%. Ds is a natural salesman and sold well over $500 in a week. He is aiming much higher for next year!

.

No money being raised as a fundraiser should be given directly as cash to a child or family participating in the fundraiser.  This is a violation of tax code. 

[LucyStoner]

What is the typical split on this? Ds' pack keeps 50% of the sales. No clue where the other 50% goes, but I always assumed it was to the cost of the product. Maybe not?! The pack uses a different popcorn company than the one most scouts here sell. Cubmaster did not mention any of the money going to the council. The boys get 10% of their sales in cash, so the pack actually gets 40%. Ds is a natural salesman and sold well over $500 in a week. He is aiming much higher for next year!

 

Say what now?  The bolded is highly atypical. It definitely isn't kosher in our BSA council or state. 

 

Is this BSA or another scouting group?  

 

It's common for the cost of goods sold to be between 20 and 40% of the sale price.  That holds for most all sale based fundraisers.  Our popcorn vendor gets 30%.  I'm not sure how much of the money stays with the pack or goes to the council office.  Most of the money after that goes to the councils but the councils pay the national org fees so it's a bit disingenuous to claim all the money that goes to the councils stays local.  

[Catwoman]

I did not grow up in this country. Back home when I was a kid, we had bake sales to raise money; everything was home baked. But that was in a country not obsessed with germs.

Having suffered food poisoning on more than one occasion, I'm generally in favor of health department regulations for food preparation. :)

[Dmmetler]

What I did as an inner city elementary school choir and band director was to use scarves/bandanas and asked the kids to wear Black/white. The scarves (tied like the Cub Scout ones) helped make things look uniform, and were cheap (actually, they were just squares of solid colored fabric, cut and hemmed by a few grandmas). One of our teacher's aides collected white polo shirts from her church's clothing drive, so eventually we built up a pretty good collection of those, too.

 

I paid for Music K-8 magazine, which gave us appropriate level music for choir, and when I left, I took my back issues with me. For band, we got a set of the beginning band books donated as part of the grant that got us the instruments, put book film over the covers, and reused them each year. I gradually collected beginning band music for the kids. We have a Navy base band, and they provided a lot of materials for my kids-and will loan music from their collections.

 

It was a lot of time and money out of pocket, and one reason why I didn't go back after DD was born is that I couldn't teach AND find funding for materials and supplies AND parent. I could manage teaching part time at the college where everything I could psssinly need was provided and parenting.

[regentrude]

Yeah, IIRC you have said East Germany in the past, right?  I was genuinely curious if Girl Guides were allowed back then.  

 

No, of course such a thing was not allowed. The communists had co-opted the idea and had a children's organization called the "pioneers" who had to wear scarves as part of their uniform. Everything was coed. 

 

To this day, I have a visceral reaction against any organization that puts children in uniform. No, just... no.

[PinkyandtheBrains.]

:( I don't feel like I'm trying to give my kids anything more than exposure to some things that they would have the opportunity to participate in if they went to out local public school.

You aren't, and in many areas those activities are no longer available at schools either.

[BarbecueMom]

Just an FYI with the busking thing (late to this thread, haven't seen it mentioned, maybe I missed it): being a paid musical performer MIGHT make one ineligible for state-sanctioned festivals and all-state band or choir or orchestra. Depends on the state's activities association rules. I played gigs in a wedding band in high school and kept that hush-hush. DH played the national anthem at professional sports games, but I'm not sure if he was paid. I don't know how fundraising activities would be viewed, but I don't remember ever doing a "paid-gig" type fundraiser in seven years of middle-through-high school band.

[Library Momma]

In our Girl Scout area (don't know if they do this all over) we have "gift of caring" you can pay the $5 for a box of cookies and then a box is donated to the troops.

 

We used to have a donation jar but we didn't this year and I forgot to ask our leader about that. Probably got nixed by the council. ðŸ˜

 

For our service project we're working on a couple projects for a local homeless shelter. I think if someone really wanted to make a donation while we were doing cookie boothing, they could donate to our service project instead of to the cookie sales. 😉

Our leader has also been selling a lot of boxes of cookies at work that are being donated to the shelter. People get to support the GS, they don't have to take the cookies, and the shelter gets the cookies.

 

 

I never buy stuff from fundraisers, I always give $5-20 donation (depending on what it is).

A $5 donation is the same at buying 5 boxes($25) of cookies that I really don't want.

 

 

This here too.  Donations all go towards  "Cookie for Heroes" which sends cookies to the troops.  A troop would never keep the donation money because that would take away from the cookies being shipped to the soldiers.  They still get their cut from each of those boxes the same as if a box was sold directly to the customer.  Also, girls can vote to forgo the incentives for selling (bandanas, stuffed animals, etc) in favor of making more money per box for the troop.  

[caedmyn]

Someone I know fund-raised for their kids softballing by raffling off a few of the MLM products the mom sells. People on her FB page seemed more than willing to buy the tickets so the kids could play though I thought it was a bit tacky myself...softball for 5-7 yo's just isn't a necessity of life IMO, not to mention the parents *could* have paid for it, they just didn't want to.

[caedmyn]

I should add that I don't have anything against private fundraising when finances necessitate it per se...just that particular example kind of bugged me.

[Arcadia]

Regarding Girl Scout cookies and other fundraising chocolates/cookies/food, many bring them into the workplace to sell to colleagues. At my husband's office location, people just leave the goods at the pantry with a cash box for donations. So people have already bought Girl Scout cookies if they wanted to buy them from colleagues.

We also had some families in the neighborhood who were recently robbed when they opened their garage door to drive in. So people are less likely to open their doors to strangers selling door to door.

Edited March 7, 2017 by Arcadia

[school17777]

Heigh Ho, on 06 Mar 2017 - 2:50 PM, said:

Ten dollars for a t shirt is too much for something worn so little, in the view of many parents. Is there a uniform shirt they could wear, or could a store put the school name on a polo?

I agree with heigh ho. I already mentioned that you can get $2.00 t-shirts if you use coupons or watch for sales at Michaels or JoAnn.

Why spend $10.00 when you can spend $2.00? The quality is about the same.

 

Yes, that is what the kids DO wear: the polo with the name of the school on it. The kids HATE HATE HATE them. I just wanted a nice shirt like they get for basketball and volleyball. I actually paid 15 dollars for my daughter's volleyball shirt. I could get the 2 dollar shirts I guess, but how would I decorate them?

 

Doesn't matter probably. I think they are going to rotate. So art will be offered next year, theater the next and then choir again, but I'm not sure. The kids I had really enjoyed it, and there are some junior high kids that really wanted to take it, but were not old enough. So we will see. They are allowed to wear the t-shirts instead of the polo uniform with their jeans, which is why so many kids want t-shirts. They are considered uniform. (:

I had to order a $6 tshirt for my elementary dd's spring concert. The teacher is having a design screen printed on them. If you'd like, I can maybe find the company that she is using. I think I still have the order form.

[Tammi K]

My son and his skate partner needed to raise funds for their trip to USFSA Nationals a few years ago.  The other mother and I both decided that we were only comfortable with accepting money if the givers got something for their money.  The kids picked and sold apples. They had some 'name your own price' yard sales, sold Subway restaurant discount cards,  wrapped gifts at Barnes and Noble, and working at a local sport venue concession stand. Over the course of a skating season, two kids, with the help of their parents and a supportive community, they were able to raise over $3,000.  For the other mom and I, it was an integrity thing - we really wanted the kids to earn the money, but we really saw that people were very helpful when they saw the kids getting in there and working with their own hands.

[Murphy101]

DD's best customer used to buy them by the case! :lol:

 

We loved that family! The mom would say: "give me 2 thin mint, 2 do-si-do, 1 trefoil."

 

And she meant 2 CASES thin mints, etc...

I buy them buy the case. 4 cases per year and I give one whole case to certain people as a gift. Dh gets one of trefoils for Valentine's Day that he makes last him all year long.

[SamanthaCarter]

Regarding Girl Scout cookies and other fundraising chocolates/cookies/food, many bring them into the workplace to sell to colleagues. At my husband's office location, people just leave the goods at the pantry with a cash box for donations. So people have already bought Girl Scout cookies if they wanted to buy them from colleagues.

We also had some families in the neighborhood who were recently robbed when they opened their garage door to drive in. So people are less likely to open their doors to strangers selling door to door.

 

Our town does not do curbside recycle pickup, so you have to take your recycling to the municipal drop off bins. We have some within walking distance of our house. This summer, the kids tried to make money by going door to door to pick up recycling and take it to the bins in their wagon for $1. They had the WORST time getting people to answer their doors. People that were clearly home. (I was there, I saw, because they are too small to be doing this on their own.) We gave up. 

[LucyStoner]

 

Yes, that is what the kids DO wear: the polo with the name of the school on it.  The kids HATE HATE HATE them.  I just wanted a nice shirt like they get for basketball and volleyball.  I actually paid 15 dollars for my daughter's volleyball shirt.   I could get the 2 dollar shirts I guess, but how would I decorate them?

 

Could be worse.  My choir when I was a child had to wear robes under a surplice, from the musty old vestry rooms where most of the robes were old enough to have been worn by our grandparents as children and were unlikely to be washed more than every few years. At the beginning of the season we all milled around the room trying to find ones that were sort of our size and then we labeled a hanger with our names for the year.  It was a big score if you could snag one that was in good repair and not absurdly short.  

[LucyStoner]

You aren't, and in many areas those activities are no longer available at schools either.

 

Nor are they free at school.  Here people pay for after school extracurriculars.  Sports teams get expensive, even at public school.  

 

Cheer at the local high school is an outlay of $800 BEFORE all of the required uniform purchases and the required $30 hairbow.  

 

Public school robotics club has a fee and a team fundraising program including a gala auction.  Public school =/= free.  

 

There is a fairly hefty fund to provide discreet cash assistance for school program related fees and supplies in my area.  It is funded entirely through donor dollars and they have about a one million dollar a year budget.  It's one of the places I give to because that same fund, 20 years ago, is what helped me get by as the poor kid in the rich school.  

[LucyStoner]

Ok, how does busking work with a small town???  We are rural.  Do you go to the mall 45 minutes away?  Won't the mall kick you out?  Plus, mine would just be singing worship songs you could hear at any church...  Italian arias are a ways off and may not even be possible here.  

 

I have 3 guys in the choir and so we have only  tackled 3 serious pieces and it has taken me all year to get them some of them  to sing on key and somewhat well.   Most of the girls are better.  

 

Call the mall or town centers and ask to set up a date.  Many are happy to accommodate. I see people from religious schools and churches doing it...sometimes the center will post a sign saying such and such church or school at 1 and then the next school at 2 etc. I've definitely heard religious music being sung. 

Edited March 7, 2017 by LucyStoner

[Catwoman]

Heigh Ho, on 06 Mar 2017 - 2:50 PM, said:

Ten dollars for a t shirt is too much for something worn so little, in the view of many parents. Is there a uniform shirt they could wear, or could a store put the school name on a polo?

I agree with heigh ho. I already mentioned that you can get $2.00 t-shirts if you use coupons or watch for sales at Michaels or JoAnn.

Why spend $10.00 when you can spend $2.00? The quality is about the same.

 

Yes, that is what the kids DO wear: the polo with the name of the school on it. The kids HATE HATE HATE them. I just wanted a nice shirt like they get for basketball and volleyball. I actually paid 15 dollars for my daughter's volleyball shirt. I could get the 2 dollar shirts I guess, but how would I decorate them?

 

Doesn't matter probably. I think they are going to rotate. So art will be offered next year, theater the next and then choir again, but I'm not sure. The kids I had really enjoyed it, and there are some junior high kids that really wanted to take it, but were not old enough. So we will see. They are allowed to wear the t-shirts instead of the polo uniform with their jeans, which is why so many kids want t-shirts. They are considered uniform. (:

Why would you have to decorate the shirts? :confused:

 

I thought your goal was to have the kids look tidy and coordinated, without having them spend much money on their shirts.

[Lang Syne Boardie]

OK, so the choir kids do have a polo shirt with the school's name on it, to be worn with jeans...there's not actually a problem, then. :) They DO have a uniform look, and have been provided with something that represents their organization.

 

Disliking the shirt; well, that's part of life. I remember the band uniforms of the late 80s, for example. Nothing says summer like a mustard-colored, polyester ascot!

[Rosie_0801]

 

Some things our 4H has done in a very tiny rural area (~700ppl):

 

 

Our guide unit earned some money for camp one year by polishing the trophies at the fire station. I'm not sure why anyone wanted to pay us for that, but they did. :)

[FaithManor]

OK, so the choir kids do have a polo shirt with the school's name on it, to be worn with jeans...there's not actually a problem, then. :) They DO have a uniform look, and have been provided with something that represents their organization.

 

Disliking the shirt; well, that's part of life. I remember the band uniforms of the late 80s, for example. Nothing says summer like a mustard-colored, polyester ascot!

:D

 

 

There was nothing kind about 80's band uniforms. Nothing. They were awful,and embarrassing, and a test of perseverance, commitment, obsession with one's instrument, and general mental imbalance of nerdy musicians! 😀 (Joking! But you get the idea.)

 

And there was no glory either. Oh if you are the football team, you are worshipped. If you are the marching band, you grovel for legitimacy. And really, it is hard to be taken seriously in polyester bell bottom pants in unsightly "gold" that is really more like breast fed baby diaper comments and PURPLE!! Oh the football team is posting only white and PURPLE because no self respecting coach is going to put his boys out there in puke yellow, but the band? Total ridicule.

 

Our outfits were so hideous that I swear there was some evil, sadistic, narcissistic, voodoo doll stabbing, anti musician mastermind behind the design of them.

 

We once begged to March in sweatpants and sweatshirts hoping for a little respect. Got shot down. Morale was low. Thankfully when marching band was over we went back to good ole black and white while the choir took its turn at being shamed in some of the worst choir robes ever known to human kind.

[mommyoffive]

Does your school offer choir? 

 

What is the fee? 

 

Do they allow hs students to come in for that?

[Dmmetler]

Band uniforms are a special kind of ick. We went from the '80's marching band ones to floor length dark blue jumpers and frilly blouses, with the guys looking like a lounge act-blue slacks, white suit coats trimmed in blue, and shirts that were nearly as ruffled and frilly as the girls wore.

 

It was a major relief to get to college wind symphony where the instructions were "wear a black dress or a white dress shirt and black slacks".

[FaithManor]

Band uniforms are a special kind of ick. We went from the '80's marching band ones to floor length dark blue jumpers and frilly blouses, with the guys looking like a lounge act-blue slacks, white suit coats trimmed in blue, and shirts that were nearly as ruffled and frilly as the girls wore.

 

It was a major relief to get to college wind symphony where the instructions were "wear a black dress or a white dress shirt and black slacks".

You know what? We suffered, we suffered greatly we 80's musicians! I don't know if it was character building or not, but maybe when someone complains about the black and white thing, we should just pull out pictures from the 1981 polyester bell bottom band, or the 1984 concert band photo of guys in light blue tuxes with white ruffled shirts, and say "Put a cork in it Buford! It could be worse. It could be very, very worse. Somebody, somewhere has these things in a basement, and we could find them, and get them, and make you wear them, and have your picture taken it and put in the newspaper."

 

:biggrinjester:

[Hilltopmom]

Ha! Our local school band still wears the uniforms i wore in the 80s!!!

 

Its the last marching band in our area & the last time I saw them they were down to about 15 kids. We had 100 ish.

[Guest]

Blast from the past!

High school Marching Band was cancelled here app ten years ago. Pep band too. Dasnt spend money on elites!

[Granny_Weatherwax]

I don't mind supporting public school organization fundraisers when it's for a good cause, like funding the fees for the tennis team to travel to an away tournament (hotel costs, food, drinks, etc) or helping raise money for a new ball machine but I'll be darned if I want to participate in a fundraiser so the senior players can receive personalized plaques, and color coordinated sashes, t-shirts, and bouquets for senior night or for the team to have a team-building dinner at the local country club.

[TechWife]

Those who've given up on doing group wide fundraisers, please understand I don't blame you for your decisions. I understand what you are saying. Just trying to find some solutions for giving my kids a few of the opportunities they'd have if they attended school.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

 

I attended school. I didn't do any extra curricular activities (at school or otherwise) until I was a junior in high school. We couldn't afford it. I'm sure my life would have been different if I had those opportunities, but  I don't think that it's detrimental for kids to miss out on something because it is unaffordable for your family. 

 

I think there has been a big shift in the way extra curricular programs are run as well. Just for example, when I was in school, the cheerleaders had two uniforms - one for football (warmer for an outdoor sport) and one for basketball (cooler for indoors). That was it. Oh, they also had to have a specific pair of shoes, but they wore the same shoes all year long. There were no trips other than to away games. They had a five day, in town, at school prep camp with the school coach during the summer which is when they learned new cheers and new routines. 

 

Now, my great-niece is a cheerleader. She has six uniforms (dance, cheer and a school hours sweatsuit for each season) and they took two trips - one to a competition and one to a clinic. They had a prep camp away from home with professional instructors instead of the school coach. Of course, all of these costs are passed along to the parents and there are numerous fundraisers that suck up family time. 

 

There is no balance anymore, not financially and not in regards to time management. 

[TechWife]

i know a young lady who needed to earn money for a mission trip she wanted to take. Notice, I said "earn." She is an excellent baker. She came up with five unique cakes that she could make very well and sent a short email to her friends and her parent's friends saying that they were available made to order with the prices for each different cake. I was so glad to order a couple of cakes from her over the course of the time she was doing this. She didn't ask for a handout and didn't offer an overpriced, inferior or average product. Similar cakes were not available in stores and the quality was superior. 

 

 

[Catwoman]

I attended school. I didn't do any extra curricular activities (at school or otherwise) until I was a junior in high school. We couldn't afford it. I'm sure my life would have been different if I had those opportunities, but I don't think that it's detrimental for kids to miss out on something because it is unaffordable for your family.

 

I think there has been a big shift in the way extra curricular programs are run as well. Just for example, when I was in school, the cheerleaders had two uniforms - one for football (warmer for an outdoor sport) and one for basketball (cooler for indoors). That was it. Oh, they also had to have a specific pair of shoes, but they wore the same shoes all year long. There were no trips other than to away games. They had a five day, in town, at school prep camp with the school coach during the summer which is when they learned new cheers and new routines.

 

Now, my great-niece is a cheerleader. She has six uniforms (dance, cheer and a school hours sweatsuit for each season) and they took two trips - one to a competition and one to a clinic. They had a prep camp away from home with professional instructors instead of the school coach. Of course, all of these costs are passed along to the parents and there are numerous fundraisers that suck up family time.

 

There is no balance anymore, not financially and not in regards to time management.

I went to school, too, and I participated in all kinds of extra-curricular activities, and while they were fun at the time, I don't think my life would be any different today if I'd never participated in any of them. I think many parents place too much emphasis on the importance of extra-curriculars. If your kids want to get involved with different sports, clubs, or activities, that's great, but if they're not particularly interested in them or the parents can't afford the extra costs, I think skipping those activities is fine, too. There's a lot to be said for kids having free and unstructured time to themselves without always having to rush off to the next scheduled activity.

[MysteryJen]

I think the high school sports depend very much where you live. Dd2's high school is an average sort of school. She only had to purchase a team suit and two caps. State qualifiers could borrow tech suits. The coach begged a store for unsaleable returns. Fund raising was through grocery store cards and it all went to pay for lane space. There was a team overnight at a rec center (not mandatory and cost about $30). The only real extra was state team jackets.

Now the high school where her club friends go, the team has a training trip in FL, everyone buys a tech suit (discounted to $250), team suit, personalized caps, bags and a seemingly endless supply of shirts, sweats, and hoodies. 

 

It is a very different high school culture.

[Catwoman]

I can say that I genuinely believe that my life would have been very different had I had different extra curricular opportunities. Not because I would have been fantastically wonderful at a particular sport and gone on to make it a career or anything. More because idle hands can do the work of the devil (or whatever that quote is) and had I had other opportunities I would not have had the time to do some of the other things I did.

While that may be the case, I think if a kid is looking for trouble, he or she is going to find it. :)

 

When I was in school, the kids who are involved in sports and clubs got into just as much mischief as the kids who went straight home after school.