J Blaine Blayton Elementary held its fifth Walk of the Bumblebees walkathon earlier this month to raise money for classroom supplies, projects and enhanced learning experiences.
The fundraiser returned Oct. 9 after taking a year off for the 2014-2015 school year.
This year’s event raised $6,400, surpassing the PTA’s goal of $5,000. The money help support student access to cultural arts programs, as well as grants for teachers.
The media, art, gym and music teacher will each receive a $500 grant to make a resource or equipment purchase for their classrooms, while regular classroom teachers are encouraged to direct their grant money toward field trips or large-scale class projects.
On the day of the walkathon students were released from class to go walk, skip, jog and dance around the school’s bus loop. Many parents showed up to take part in the festivities and the school’s bumblebee mascot made an appearance.
The PTA played music to add to the party atmosphere, including a popular song that highlights contemporary dance moves, “Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae).”
“The bumblebee was whipping and nae-naeing with the kids,” PTA President Angela Whitehead said. “The kids had a ton of fun and it was a big success.”
While the school’s PTA used to host the walkathon at the school in the spring and a different fundraiser through a third party in the fall, parent feedback led to the decision to cut the out-of-house event and focus all of the PTA’s time and resources on the walkathon.
The change bumped up the walkathon to the fall semester in order to avoid standardized testing conflicts.
This also marked the first year that the PTA reached out not only to parents but also local businesses to ask for donations for the fundraiser.
Contributors included:
- Bounce House
- Glass Dynamics
- Iron-Bound Gym
- Pediatric Dental Specialists Pete’s Heating and A/C
- Whitmore Chevrolet
- Williamsburg Eye Care
- Crow’s Garage
- Custom Builder Supply Co.
- Sylvan
- Kohls
- Sugar and Spice Consignment
- Francesco’s Ristorante Italiano
- Virginia Living Museum
- Paul’s Deli
- School Crossing
- The Mariners’ Museum
- Great Wolf Lodge
- Parks Orthodontics
- CNU Athletics Department
- Traditional Golf Properties
- 7-Eleven
- Norfolk Admirals Hockey
- Powerhouse Dance
