Originally published on April 26, 2018.

Brandy Hale, Coal Creek.

The silent auction and talent show night at CCC K-8 had an amazing turnout. The number of donations to the PTSA event was beyond expectations. The participants had their choices of items to bid on, from handcrafts such as knits, jewelry, quilts and soap, gift certificates to casinos, resorts and hotels, services like chainsaw wood carving, music and sports lessons, and salon treatments, other things like gift baskets, outdoor wear, kids’ art, rental certificates, pottery and fun things, like a prime parking space at the school and a mountain bike ride with a teacher.

The event was a welcome end to a long day for the teachers and PTSA members who had started with Day without Hate, followed by Innovation Stations and finally prepped for the school’s biggest fundraiser of the year.

Day without Hate, a Colorado-spawned organization following the Virginia Tech shootings, had high schoolers come to do presentations on non-violence, respect and unity, with 8th graders doing presentations to all younger grades to promote tolerance. Innovation Stations is an idea developed by Principal Livingston to target different learning styles and encourage hands-on learning of curriculum standards. The stations on Friday were the physics and geometry of fishing, the chemistry of bread baking, the methods of music recording and the geometry of picnic bench construction.

After all that, the staff and PTSA members began prepping for the silent auction by converting the library into a showcase for auction items, the cafeteria into a classically decorated snack buffet complete with lighting and adjacent selfie booth, and the gym into an auditorium, complete with stage and lighting. Families began arriving at 5:30 to walk the aisles of goodies, writing their names and bids on the sheets provided in front of each item. Principal Livingston got the bidding mood going by hopping on a desk holding $5 balloons for sale, with a choice of three surprises inside: a $5 bill, a gift card for popcorn with her, or a high five. After about an hour, parents headed to the cafeteria for snacks while student performers prepped for their time on stage. Then the shows began.

Most of the performances were karaoke in style, with a few dance routines, a hand-puppet show and a solo piano performance by the composer. The talent was emceed by five 8th graders, with one on them, Jaden Eicher, performing a song herself. The PTSA did the pre-intermission performance, displaying their enthusiasm to the tune of the Muppets’ Mahna Mahna, after which parents returned to the auction room to put final bids on items.

The auction was a tremendous success, raising $4800, enough for the additional 25 Chromebooks the event was aiming for, completing the 1-to-1 computer-to-student ratio for the school, and leaving an extra $500 for future events. The PTSA is encouraging more members to join, especially dads, to contribute to future events and ideas. The school is also seeking professionals of all types to help develop and participate in additional Innovation Stations that provide real-world active education opportunities centered around curriculum subjects. To join either of these, or for more information, go to the CCC website.