Teacher Absences Bad for Education?

Stephanie wrote:

Aaron wrote:

wvsasha wrote:I would rather kids EARN money than BEG for it - whether it's for sports or the chess club.

How do they earn it? Selling the same old crap that they've been selling for how many years that net next to nothing? As I said, I'm trying to raise money for baseball so I'm open to suggestions.

We've done boot drivers. They're generally good for a thousand bucks or so. While it helps, it's not running an athletic department. And it's also a thousand bucks that ain't coming from the schools.

raffles, auctions, silent auctions, May breakfast, spaghetti supper, ham & bean dinner, car washes, then there is my favorite money maker if this state's rules will allow it (RI no longer does) Cow chip bingo.........but that really needs to be done in conjunction with some sort of carnival or fair, both which can be pretty big money makers if they are organizes properly.

When you do raffles, auctions, silent auctions and such, you're begging business for gifts to donate. No difference.

As I said, we're doing a bingo on March 9th. We're also in the process of planninga spring carnvil type event, kicking it off with a breakfast and ending with a dinner. I'll let you know when that is as well.

Stephanie wrote:Aaron,

I'm not telling you that teacher's name. I may not be the sharpest tool in the shed but I'm not a complete idiot either. We still have another 16 months or so of dealing with that school, she is enrolled in a class from that department next year and I have no way of knowing which of the two (perhaps 3) teachers she will have. In addition, I have no way of knowing if that teacher will coach for another school again this year.

btw, I'm with Sasha. There is no reason those kids couldn't hold a car wash rather than begging for money. Over the years my children have sold every kind of over priced food item, magazines, plants, calenders, door knob covers, you name it. They have worked car washes, breakfasts, suppers, and wrapped gifts. I have always helped them in all of these activities but they don't beg in the streets.

You can request your daugher not be in his class.

A couple of things Sam.

First, I can't speak for Braxton County but I know in this part of the state any daytime sports activity has to approve before hand. I was under the impression it was from the SSAC because I suggested holding a middle school game during the day when mine played. It's a great way to make money. We were turned down.

As for the BCHS coach, I don't doubt what you say. I grew up in Lincoln county so I know how a one horse county is. It's all about who you know.

Here's what I do know. Braxton County High School is not relevant in any sport. Nor is Lincoln County High School. It's not a coincidence.

As for the money, you, Sasha and Stephanie are talking about sales dollars. I'm talking about profits. Take you're world class hot dog for example. We sell only all beef hot dogs that we buy from Sam’s, Custard Stand Chili and all the fixings for $1.50 each. At the end of a game, if we sell a hundred of them, we'll profit maybe $50 to $60 over a 2 to 3 hour time period. It takes a lot of sales to make any money and unfortunately, early season baseball in WV does not bode well for food sales.

In that same 2 to 3 hour time period, you can do 10 times that amount begging.

Your kids have sold those items but your not on the other end. You have no idea how little they actually bring in to the organization doing the selling. The only people making money are the magazine suppliers, plant suppliers, calender suppliers, door knob cover suppliers, you name it suppliers. Not to mention you've got 7 to 10 booster organizations selling the same crap.

I've been doing this for 10 years so I've worked more car washes, breakfast and bake sales then you can shake a stick at.

We do all of this and more. Our main fundraiser is a Longaberger (sp?) bingo which does pretty good. (BTW, anyone interested, it will be March 9th at PHS and cost $20 to play.) We'll also set up and request donations. It's all about finding as many people as possible. You and Sasha can call it begging if you like. Personally, I'd rather drop a dollar or 2 in a bucket then pay $14.50 for a calendar that the teams going to get to keep $2.00.

Aaron you're wrong again.

Over the course of my nearly 20 years involvement with PTO's I have organized and run bake sales, carnivals, fairs, breakfasts, suppers, raffles and plant sales. As the secretary of a cub scout pack I organized and ran popcorn sales, candy bar sales, car washes galore (we held them once a month 8 months of the year) and other fundraisers through fundraising companies.

I have raised money for field trips, post grad parties, cultural events, construction of a new playground, and every kind of supply you can possibly conceive of. Just because I haven't organized these types of things for a high school athletic team doesn't mean I have been sitting home eating bon bons all these years.

Aaron, do you know what cow chip bingo is? I don't know if it is illegal here. Because of RI's lengthy battle to keep casino style gambling out, all games of chance were banned probably about 15 years ago. Now all games have to be games of skill. If that is legal here that would be an excellent source of revenue in conjunction with the fair or carnival.

Asking local businesses for donations is not the same thing as standing out in an intersection or outside of Krogers with an empty coffee can begging for money. The businesses increase visibility in the local community and other benefits as a result. Also, I have called requesting donations of services and products for many years, but I have never had my child do it.

Again would imply it's a frequent occurence. I seldom am.

I would be more then happy to allow you to plan my carnival day as finding volunteers is about the most difficult thing we do.

You can request your daugher not be in his class.

Probably not. Let's use the Math Department for example. There are only 3 math teachers at BHS, and one isn't even full time. Those classes are divided between those teachers. We're going to use Elkins as an example because you know he isn't the teacher I'm discussing.

Let's say it were Elkins who was involved in this. She is scheduled to take pre-cal from him next year. He is the only teacher there that teaches that class. I can't get her switched to Thaxton's class because Thaxton doesn't teach it.

Now if, the course is required for graduation and there is only one teacher in the building teaching that class there is no switching. Some departments with required classes have only one teacher. It's a little school.

Now that small school has its benefits that outweigh many of the drawbacks so its a trade-off. You'll have teachers you don't like you know you're going to have for multiple classes so you suck it up. This isn't the case, though. Students shouldn't have to suck this up because it is completely unnecessary.

To me the simplest solution would be to make the fourth block of the semester that teacher coaches the planning period. Too bad the powers that be haven't figured that out. Perhaps I'll drop an anon. note to administration. This isn't rocket scientist stuff here.

Stephanie wrote:

You can request your daugher not be in his class.

Probably not. Let's use the Math Department for example. There are only 3 math teachers at BHS, and one isn't even full time. Those classes are divided between those teachers. We're going to use Elkins as an example because you know he isn't the teacher I'm discussing.

Let's say it were Elkins who was involved in this. She is scheduled to take pre-cal from him next year. He is the only teacher there that teaches that class. I can't get her switched to Thaxton's class because Thaxton doesn't teach it.

Now if, the course is required for graduation and there is only one teacher in the building teaching that class there is no switching. Some departments with required classes have only one teacher. It's a little school.

Now that small school has its benefits that outweigh many of the drawbacks so its a trade-off. You'll have teachers you don't like you know you're going to have for multiple classes so you suck it up. This isn't the case, though. Students shouldn't have to suck this up because it is completely unnecessary.

To me the simplest solution would be to make the fourth block of the semester that teacher coaches the planning period. Too bad the powers that be haven't figured that out. Perhaps I'll drop an anon. note to administration. This isn't rocket scientist stuff here.

Most coaches I know actually request their last block as their planning period. You're at Buffalo which actually explains about everything. That's the problem.

Keep making swipes at Buffalo. It could be that teacher just accepted that post after the schedule was made. It could be that because of scheduling conflicts that teacher couldn't have 4th block free.

Aaron wrote:As for the money, you, Sasha and Stephanie are talking about sales dollars. I'm talking about profits. Take you're world class hot dog for example. We sell only all beef hot dogs that we buy from Sam’s, Custard Stand Chili and all the fixings for $1.50 each. At the end of a game, if we sell a hundred of them, we'll profit maybe $50 to $60 over a 2 to 3 hour time period. It takes a lot of sales to make any money and unfortunately, early season baseball in WV does not bode well for food sales.

In that same 2 to 3 hour time period, you can do 10 times that amount begging.

So you want to externalize costs onto the community to maxamize profits.

Hell man, you should have been a WV coal operator.

Your food costs are way too high. A restaurant with a 50% food cost could never make it. You need to find a way to cut costs. I will ask my husband about all beef hotdogs, but he may not know. He doesn't do hotdogs, they're gross. I haven't even heard of Custard Stand Chili, but the point is your food costs are too high. I'd raise the cost of those dogs to $2. Another thing, do you have the ability to sell fountain drinks? They are the biggest money maker of all.

I vote that myself and my hubbie volunteer to help Aaron at this March fundraiser.

We can do anything you'd like us to do.

ziggy wrote:

Aaron wrote:As for the money, you, Sasha and Stephanie are talking about sales dollars. I'm talking about profits. Take you're world class hot dog for example. We sell only all beef hot dogs that we buy from Sam’s, Custard Stand Chili and all the fixings for $1.50 each. At the end of a game, if we sell a hundred of them, we'll profit maybe $50 to $60 over a 2 to 3 hour time period. It takes a lot of sales to make any money and unfortunately, early season baseball in WV does not bode well for food sales.

In that same 2 to 3 hour time period, you can do 10 times that amount begging.

So you want to externalize costs onto the community to maxamize profits.

Hell man, you should have been a WV coal operator.

How many organizations like this have you raised money for?

I tried to find the income distribution organization that dispensed funds equally to all orgainzations but I can't find it. Any idea where it's located?

Stephanie wrote:Keep making swipes at Buffalo. It could be that teacher just accepted that post after the schedule was made. It could be that because of scheduling conflicts that teacher couldn't have 4th block free.

Poca has 4 math or 5 math teachers I believe. Winfield has 8 to 10. Buffalo has 2-3. You can call it a swipe if you want but the facts are facts. If my kids don't like a teachers it 's fairly easy to change teachers.

The teacher should be in his class. His outside coaching job shouldn't take away from his full time position. The fact that he doesn't is a reflection on him and the adminstration at BHS.

The teacher should be in his class. His outside coaching job shouldn't take away from his full time position. The fact that he doesn't is a reflection on him and the adminstration at BHS.

So you agree with me, I already said I blame them. For some reason you're leaving out the superintendent.

Stephanie wrote:Your food costs are way too high. A restaurant with a 50% food cost could never make it. You need to find a way to cut costs. I will ask my husband about all beef hotdogs, but he may not know. He doesn't do hotdogs, they're gross. I haven't even heard of Custard Stand Chili, but the point is your food costs are too high. I'd raise the cost of those dogs to $2. Another thing, do you have the ability to sell fountain drinks? They are the biggest money maker of all.

I could buy cheaper all beef hot dogs that are smaller. I'm not. We'll either raise the price, get rid of the fixings or have a cost for plain or condiment, add for chili and add for everything. But even at that, we're still not going to make enough money out of our concession stand to fund our program. No sport makes big money. Football and boys basketball do ok but they don't get rich. There's simply not enough volumn.

Stephanie wrote:

The teacher should be in his class. His outside coaching job shouldn't take away from his full time position. The fact that he doesn't is a reflection on him and the adminstration at BHS.

So you agree with me, I already said I blame them. For some reason you're leaving out the superintendent.

Yes, I agree with you. Teachers shouldn't be leaving the classroom as much as you state. Not when there are ways around it such as a planning period.

As for who I blame, that's easy. I blame all adminstration. I think 99.99999999999999999999999999999999 % of all the problems can be fixed by the adminstration.

Aaron wrote:

Stephanie wrote:Your food costs are way too high. A restaurant with a 50% food cost could never make it. You need to find a way to cut costs. I will ask my husband about all beef hotdogs, but he may not know. He doesn't do hotdogs, they're gross. I haven't even heard of Custard Stand Chili, but the point is your food costs are too high. I'd raise the cost of those dogs to $2. Another thing, do you have the ability to sell fountain drinks? They are the biggest money maker of all.

I could buy cheaper all beef hot dogs that are smaller. I'm not. We'll either raise the price, get rid of the fixings or have a cost for plain or condiment, add for chili and add for everything. But even at that, we're still not going to make enough money out of our concession stand to fund our program. No sport makes big money. Football and boys basketball do ok but they don't get rich. There's simply not enough volumn.

Well then, run a 50-50 Raffle.

Hold it once per month.

Each month's tickets will be numbered from 000 to 999.

Sell 1,000 tickets @ $1.00 per ticket. EXACTLY 1,000, no more no matter what.

Pick a date, say the last day of each month, to have the "drawing", ....... but you don't do the drawing.

The Winning Number is ...... the "Cash 3" number drawn by the WV Lottery.

The Winning ticket holder gets $500 and your team gets $500.

And no one can claim the drawing was "fixed".