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April 9, 2016St. Mary's announces $100,000 donation to kick off Night of Knights Auction!
With Challenges come Opportunity...
If this current school year has taught us anything, it is as Luke reminds us, "for with God, nothing shall be impossible". With only a few weeks to go until the school year started, St. Mary's administration and staff were informed that the structural integrity of the St. Mary's building was being called into question. The school quickly found an alternate site on the Pillsbury Campus, constructed walls, moved classrooms, and were ready for the first day of school on September 8th. After engineers and experts investigated the St. Mary's building further, it was confirmed that the floors were unsafe and needed to be “shored up”. Construction has been taking place during the school year while St. Mary’s students and staff conduct their entire school year at the Pillsbury Campus.
St. Mary’s has recently started our, Investing in our Children, capital campaign to raise $2.25 million dollars to cover the cost of the repairs to the school and the expenses associated with housing the St. Mary’s K-8 grade on the Pillsbury Campus for a full school year. While we are working to repair the school and preparing to return 'home', we are also gearing up for the Annual Night of Knights Auction which supports the general operations of St. Mary's. With both of these financial needs impacting the success of our school we are blessed to have a local donor step up to the plate in a big way. St. Mary's School is pleased to announce that Federated Insurance Company will offer a challenge donation of up to $100,000 to the current, Investing in our Children, capital campaign. Federated Insurance will match dollar for dollar the funds raised during the 'Spirit of the Knight' give during this year's Night of Knights Auction.
The Spirit of the Knight Big Give gives parents, community members, and SMS supporters a chance to make an impact on our school and students. As always, we are in need of your continued support to meet our necessary needs for our children at St. Mary's. This year the funds from the Spirit of the Knight Big Give will be used for a new PA system and for technology in our classrooms. Our current PA system is no longer operational and this is a security and safety need for our St. Mary's staff and students. School paging and intercom systems provide educators with comprehensive communication and safety in the classrooms. They also provide a fast and effective way to communicate in the event there is an emergency situation. It is our goal to have this system in place for the 2016-17 school year. The anticipated cost for this project is $20,000. We are also in need of updating and purchasing new technology for our students and staff to use in their classrooms. The use of chrome books, iPad's, Kindles etc. has a positive impact on our children and prepares them for our technologically advanced society. It is our goal to give each classroom teacher the ability to purchase new technology that will provide our students with the necessary learning tools they need. It is our goal to raise $20,000 for this project as well. Should we exceed these goals of $40,000 the remainder of the Spirit of the Knight would go to the St. Mary's general fund to be used as the Finance and Advisory Boards see most helpful for St. Mary's.
The 30th Annual Night of Knights Auction will be held at St. Mary's School on April 16th with the doors opening at 4:00pm. We hope that you will be able to join us for a fun filled evening to celebrate the work that has been done this year, and we also ask that you come and raise your paddle to support St. Mary’s school and our SMS kids!
The 2015-2016 Auction Committee
