Students at Duncan Creek Elementary School in Hoschton didn't just meet their PTA's fundraising goal this fall — they obliterated it, raising more than $52,000 and sending Principal Sheri Tolar up to the roof for a night to make good on her promise.
Tolar had told students that if they surpassed the Boosterthon Fun Run's $35,000 target, she would spend the night sleeping on top of the school building, according to CBS News. Students blew past that number by more than $17,000, and Tolar followed through on the dare. The campaign launched on September 18, with daily character lessons and schoolwide milestone incentives to keep kids and families engaged, according to a post from the Duncan Creek Elementary PTA.
The rooftop sleepover wasn't the only stunt on the line. In the week leading up to it, Tolar and her teachers carried out a string of dares tied to fundraising milestones, including getting slimed and being duct-taped to chairs, the station's report notes. It's a tactic that has become increasingly common among elementary schools nationally — rooftop campouts and administrator dares are a recognized trend in PTA fundraising circles, with similar stunts elsewhere pushing communities past pledge goals above $20,000, per a post from Duncan Creek's PTA page.
Where the Money Is Headed
The windfall won't just sit in a bank account. Funds raised will go toward classroom teacher grants, playground equipment upgrades, student field trips, books, and family events, per the same CBS News account. Teacher grants in particular let individual educators purchase specialized classroom materials that general district funds don't cover, the outlet reports.
Sheri Tolar is principal of Duncan Creek Elementary School in Hoschton, part of Gwinnett County Public Schools.
A School Already on an Upswing
Duncan Creek operates within Gwinnett County Public Schools, Georgia's largest public school district, which enrolls more than 174,000 students, according to Good Morning Gwinnett. The fundraising success also comes at a moment of flux for the district, which paused a districtwide redistricting plan last week after fall enrollment dropped 3,648 students below projections, falling to its lowest total since 2014.
Late last month, police activity prompted temporary soft lockdowns at Freeman’s Mill, Twin Rivers and Mountain View schools in the Mountain View cluster. It remains to be seen whether this year's $52,000 haul will set a new bar for future PTA campaigns at Duncan Creek, or how soon the new playground equipment and classroom grants will materialize on campus.
