Raising Expectations: Douglas Dragons Soar to New Horizons with Raise Craze

We heard you loud and clear with the Raise Craze Fundraiser: there is a new era of Dragons upon us, and we are here for it! The bar has been raised, and we are ready to embrace it and excited about all the opportunities we can achieve together. Because of your generosity, we can enhance the already planned events like the Variety Show, Spring Family Night, and the Spring Musical. Our Media Center and Gym are in need of some major upgrades and you are making this happen! Every dollar spent by your PTA is carefully considered and used to enhance the majority, if not all students, now and in the future. To date we raised and netted $33,360, that is 95% of the total raised all the while spreading love and kindness in our homes and community! In fact, over 2000 Acts of Kindness and love were logged as a result of this fundraiser! Way to go, Dragons!

Behind the Scenes–

We actually have two important budgets: one is the overall operating cost for running the PTA and all the activities associated with the calendar school year, this is where our Raise Craze dollars go! The other is a Revitalization Budget, that was originally slated for a science center that did not get approval from Wake County during its final stages. It is the goal to use the bulk of the Revitalization budget this year, since many families that contributed are aging out of Douglas and deserve to experience some improvements before they move on. We polled the entire staff to help guide us in allocating these funds. Resoundingly, they would love to see improvements on the exterior of our campus, especially the outdoor learning environments. A huge request was making the Dragon Trail usable again and to ensure continued maintenance of the trail. The responsibility for much of this outdoor learning space maintenance lies with the PTA and the support from our Douglas Families. Another critical priority is our library collection. Ms. Hall spent countless hours cleaning out out dated, damaged inventory and has been slowly piecing together a more up to date and engaging environment. We used $5,000 worth of Scholastic dollars, from last year’s book fair, and this equated to 183 library-bound books. Although the cost of library-bound books is high, these types of books are necessary so that they can be used in circulation among our students for many years. The library is also receiving some cosmetic work, including fresh paint and new furniture. Even with these improvements, our library’s “collection age” is 2005 and the number of books is below the recommended 15-20 books per student. To address this deficit, the PTA is investing money from the Douglas Revitalization Fund to give our library a significant boost.

Douglas Revitalization Areas:

1. The Dragon Trail- Clearing and maintaining trail for exploration and educational purposes
2. The Outdoor Musical Playground- Repair of Manta Ray musical instrument and replacement mallets for musical instruments
3. Shade structure on the Big Playground
4. Bench seating in the pick-up section of Douglas (waiting for WCPSS to install the purchased benches)
5. Soccer goals
6. Butterfly Garden consistent upkeep and improvements along the way

PTA Events and Expenses from September and October:

1. Teacher Reimbursement which consists of supplies for classrooms from September-October
2. Hospitality :
   • Catered dinner from our Gold Level Sponsor Salt and Lime for Open House for all staff members
     • Sunshine Cart for staff members (a trail mix theme in September and an afternoon perk of cold brew in October)
     • Catered a lunch from Chopt for staff members for the Fall Festival
     • Staff Lounges stocked with coffee, creamer, and water flavor packets
     • Staff Birthday Cards and Gifts Delivered
3. Assisted the Douglas Family Engagement Team with the Fall Festival in October
4. Sponsored (along with a grant from The United Arts Council) The Beast- Sankofa– a fun-paced musical history of the African American culture from Reggae, Blues to Hip Hop
5. Pre-Ordered Winter Spirit Wear (Sweatshirts and Hoodies)
6. Assisted with Author Bob Shea visiting and working with K-2 Students in partnership with Quail Ridge Bookstore

If you have read this far: the first 3 people to email Douglas PTA(Douglasdragonpta@gmail.com) with the title: “I read the blog”, gets a free Douglas car magnet. Just give us your child’s name and teacher in the email.