Schools implement creative plans for Steps for Students
January 25, 2011
HOUSTON — Mazie McCoy, principal at St. Mary of the Purification School, is willing to endure a pie attack and serve as dunking booth fodder for the sake of Catholic education.
St. Mary, an Inner City Catholic School, kicked off its 2011 Steps for Students fundraising efforts just a few months ago to help raise money for the sixth annual event. The Steps for Students 5K Run is presented this year by Yellow Cab and Taxis Fiesta. The event benefits Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston and is on the University of Houston campus grounds Feb. 19.
The school which with the greatest percentage of registered runners, based on school enrollment, earns the David K. Guite Spirit Award and unofficial bragging rights for a year.
The St. Mary students were introduced to incentives for participating and raising money at a pep rally this past November. While the dunking booth and crème pie attack waiting for McCoy is only for top money raisers reaching a certain tier, other incentives for the students include an ice cream social, a free day pass, a movie day and a super heroes or princess dress day.
“Steps for Students is a great way to build awareness of our schools and to support them at the same time,” McCoy said. “The sky is the limit as to how much a school community can raise. Steps pulls a community together to work towards something they believe in.”
The St. Mary principal is delighted to see the network of Archdiocesan schools working (and running) together for a common cause. “It says to the greater community that our Catholic schools are present, strong and proud,” she said.
St. Augustine has also used creative ways to encourage participation from their school community. In their case, the Inner City Catholic School made Steps for Students their primary fundraiser, according to Yoly Gammel, development director at St. Augustine.
“Since each family has to raise a certain amount of money during the school year, this is one way for them to do it and receive credit for it,” Gammel said. “It is probably a little bit different than some of the other schools. That is what we have done, and so far, we have stayed in first place [in terms of fundraising]. Hopefully, we can stay there for a while.”
St. Augustine is also implementing “an incentive plan” similar to St. Mary’s where classes having the most people registered earn rewards like a lunch and a movie.
“This gives the classes an incentive to spread the word and get the ball rolling,” Gammel said.
The good-natured competition with the other schools brings out the best in everyone involved.
“We are going to have our mascot out there and hopefully, we can get the Spirit Award. We are really excited” Gammel said. “Steps for Students brings us all together. We are one big family, and this helps us come together for that one morning.” †
jdycus@archgh.org