Glenbrook students raise the bar for “Masquerade”

February 5, 2016 · 0 Comments

Glenbrook Elementary students have raised the dance bar to a goal of $12,000 this year, up $2,000 from last year at their annual dance-a-thon.

Last year, the students danced for fun and fundraising with a “Freaky Friday” theme. This year, the theme will be “Masquerade” with music provided, once again, by Jerry Daniels from JD DJ Services.

Funds from the February 12 dance will go to a number of School Council projects, including the playground, Scientists in the School, Artists in the School, library programs and books.

“Our school is only three years old, so the needs are very high,” says Jennifer Allen, School Council secretary. “Our yard is quite barren and we have many technology and curriculum support needs within the school.”

Once again, the Scotiabank funds matching program will match all the money raised by the students up to $5,000. Glenbrook Elementary, located at 300 Fiddle Park Lane, is Shelburne’s newest school.

It opened in 2013 without any playground equipment.

The School Council and the Playground Committee have been working very hard ever since to raise money for the equipment, which will cost in the tens of thousands of dollars.

Students and parents continue to be creative with traditional fundraising, including pizza days, candy grams and the biggest fund raiser of the year: the February dance-a-thon.

The school hopes to build an outdoor fenced-in concrete pad and an interactive play area to create an area for physical exercise, but also one that will facilitate the arts, science, math and language components of the school curriculum.

Students fill pledge sheets with sponsorships from families and friends; for every $5 raised the student receives a ballot for prizes.

Jennifer Allen says the students chose the prize they wish to have a chance to win by placing their ballot in the draw box for that prize.

It is the event “the students anticipate every year,” she says.

“It is quite a busy time at Glenbrook next week as students are collecting donations and making masks for our Dance-a-thon,” says school council chair Catherine Thompson.

She says she is “not sure what they are more excited about – dancing all day, winning prizes or the anticipation of what all their hard work is going towards.”

“We are starting phase two of our yard improvement plan, which means more opportunity to explore and learn in our surrounding environment,” she adds. “We would like to thank our community for their support and donations towards make learning fun.”

The effort of the highly motivated parents and kids has not escaped the eye of local businesses and beyond.

“Donations have been arriving daily,” says Allen.

These donations include:

Larry’s Small Engines,
Mansfield Outdoor Centre
Mansfield Ski Club
The Toronto Blue Jays Baseball Club
Shelburne Family Dental (Dr. DiSanto)
Pete’s Donuts Shelburne
Infinite Play
The Shelburne Dojo
JD DJ Services
The Tipling Stage Company
ACCE Photography
Posh Pink Bowtique
A Little Silver
The Market
Main Street Café
Changes Hair Studio
Caravaggio I.D.A
School Days Café
My Crafty Neighbour
Crewson Insurance
A Cut Above
Shelburne Soccer Club
Schooners Minor Baseball
Julie McNeely ThirtyOne
The Teachers of Glenbrook
Canadian Tire Orangeville
LotsOfun
Shoeless Joe’s Orangeville
Scholastic Canada
Marine Land
Toronto Zoo
ROM
Ontario Science Centre
Canada’s Wonderland
Playdium Mississauga

The parent council is hoping that the community will continue to rally behind the enthusiasm of their school spirit and support the students when they arrive with their pledge sheets.

They are still in need of donations for the prize table; if you wish to make a donation, please contact: Jennifer Allen, Secretary of Glenbrook School Council, at 519-278-9171.

By Marni Walsh