VENTURA : Top Fund-Raisers Go to School in Style
The trip to school Friday was a smooth ride for a dozen students at Loma Vista Elementary School, who were picked up in limousines and dropped off at the Ventura school as a reward for their PTA fund-raising efforts.
As the Ventura High School band played and their classmates cheered, the 12 students--top fund-raisers in a school-wide campaign that raised more than $12,000--arrived with their chaperons, Principal Diane Peterson and Supt. Cesare Caldarelli of the Ventura Unified School District.
The annual fund-raising drive took place in October in the form of a jog-a-thon. Students, who had received pledges from relatives and local businesses in advance, ran up to 20 laps around a course in exchange for varying amounts of money for each lap completed, Peterson said.
PTA member Jennifer Mitchell said the previous record for Loma Vista’s fund-raising efforts was $7,000.
The money will be used to pay for PTA-sponsored activities and school equipment, including field trips, visual arts performances and computer software, Mitchell said.
In addition to the limousine rides, dozens of other prizes were awarded, including bumper stickers, boogie boards, an aquarium, cassette tapes, a camera and a bicycle, Mitchell said. The fifth-grade class that raised the most money also received a pizza party in the classroom Friday, she said.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
