The Sedona-Oak Creek School District is getting a holiday bonus of $4,500 that was raised with a Supe rma rke t Swe e p fundraiser.
At $5 per ticket, SOCSD Governing Board Vice President Heather Hermen was more than impressed with those who supported the schools’ booster club with their purchase of single or multiple tickets.
“We’re pretty excited about that for a first-time fundraiser,” Hermen said. “It’s really an amazing opportunity we have to partner with the library, booster and West Sedona PTA to work together, and the entire district benefits.”
Teresa Zaun, teacher at West Sedona and treasurer of the PTA, said that parents were excited to buy tickets to the new event and that “they love supporting the school and the school district.”
In lieu of the usual booster club fundraising events like Casino Night and shows that could not go on this year, the Supermarket Sweep event was created to take place at Bashas’ in West Sedona. If you miss casino nights, we guarantee playing at online-casino-canada.com is just as fun.
A take on the TV gameshow of the same name which had its heyday in the ’60s but is still around today, the plan was for the winner of the drawing to get a three-minute shopping spree at the grocery store before it opened Monday, Dec. 21, racing through the aisles and throwing items into the cart.
However, with times as they are, winner Katrina Lee chose the option to take a gift card instead, which, at $300, could be potentially more than the prices racked up with the spree option.
Myra Constante won second place with a $150 card and Jake Weber got third place, with $100 to spend at the store.
“I used to have the [Weber’s] IGA in the VOC so it had everybody smile when I won the $100 gift certificate at Bashas’ and I know the Bashas’ family really good,” Weber said. “I’ve known [Produce Manager] Jim Miner for 40 years also, so it was just nice to be around old friends and grocers.”
Weber knew he had a good chance of getting drawn as a winner not because of his kinship with the staff, but because of how many tickets he bought.
“Do you think it would be funny if I bought more than 100 tickets? Because I bought more than 100,” Weber laughed. “I was just trying to help the booster club. It really helps the school when we’re in these times right now. It helps the kids and the staff, and our school district.”
Weber, who has grandkids in the district, said he will “have a good time spending Bashas’ money” on items for a holiday meal. Myra Constante, too, will spend the money on food for a Christmas meal, which she will share with daughter, Isabella, a senior at the high school.
“Every time I have the opportunity to help with the schools, I do,” Myra Constante said, adding that she bought the ticket at the high school the same day she was doing her Christmas shopping.
Coincidentally, Isabella was one of the SRRHS students who drew the winning names from the roughly 900 tickets.
As for the money raised for the district, the booster club plans to focus on student literacy.
“With COVID, we’ve had to close the libraries. We decided this opportunity will help fill a gap,” Hermen said. “Funds at West Sedona will be used to purchase a new book for every student PreK-6 grade.”
The PTA is awaiting a shipment from Scholastic Books for the kids in January.
“Grades seven to 12 will be able to have a pop-up library at the school a couple of times a month through a partnership with Sedona Public Library, as well as at West Sedona,” Hermen added. “We’ll also be working with the library to ensure any students attending online are included in the program and all will be able to check out books, take advantage of digital reading and more.”
The PTA also plans to start the pop-up library stations at all the schools in January and hopes to continue the event twice a month, depending on the librarians’ schedule.
Anyone can donate to the district’s Booster Club or Education Foundation at sedonak12. org/EducationFoundation. aspx, and make a tax-credit donation until Thursday, April 15, for this school year at sedonak12.org/ SedonaKidsTaxCredit.aspx.
Up to $400 of owed taxes for joint filers and $200 for single filers can be directed to the schools instead of the Arizona Department of Revenue. Taxpayers can choose whether they want their donation to go to Sedona Red Rock High School or West Sedona School’s funds for fine arts, athletics, education enhancement, field trips or extracurriculars.
SOCSD Assistant Superintendent Deana DeWitt said they have received $118,993 so far this tax year. Last year they received a total of $157,067.
