The Montessori Messenger Volume 18

The Montessori Messenger

Auction Addition

A Night Down in Motown!

Greetings Montessori Families!

The Items obtained for the auction are now listed on our school website.

www.jacksonvillemontessori.com Click right in the middle where it says "Auction Night 2010" and you can see everything that we have secured so far. Please...TELL YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY ABOUT THIS!! The more people see the fabulous items, the more people will buy tickets and spend money for our benefit!! It gets updated every couple of days, so keep checking.

The tickets are beautiful and are sure to sell themselves. Last year, we had slightly over 400 people at our wonderful event. We would like to see 500 this year - so think of people you know who would enjoy the event. Sell to your neighbors, yourreal estate agent, your office-mates, your friends. We have a huge amount of restaurants lined up so far, we have wine from Biltmore Estates and the Keg Truck is coming back! So it is sure to be loads of fun!

The committee voted for business/people making donations of a $500 value and over 2 complimentary tickets/under $500

1 complimentary ticket.

"Baskets" need to be put together soon! The sign at the school says the 24^th so make sure we have a list of items with the basket to make it easier for Katie's committee.

We still need great auction items! We have a lot of wonderful things so far but we still need more! Do you have friends with home businesses? This is a great marketing opportunity - 500 sets of eyes will see what they have to offer and can pick up their business card or brochure. A friend of mine was actually very upset with me last year for NOT asking her to participate! You are not nagging them - you are doing their business a favor! So let's have a big push on securing items in time to give our people enough time to get the program and bid sheets put together.

Advertising is going great! We have posters from Bdazle (Lisa Davilla) and hope to get them up in businesses this weekend. If you need any, please go to the office. The ads are showing up in the Daily News, the billboard is up and Jodi Marvel just got a script to put on the radio. A direct number for ticket sales and information is listed (910) 938-8990 and you can also pick up tickets in the office to sell. Remember, the best advertisement is word of mouth!

Dress Code: Please remember that if you are going to be available to help patrons, basically working the auction we ask that you wear all black. You will be given a Montessori pin before on on the night of the event. The wait staff will be wearing white shirts and black pants so patrons know who to go to for help and direction.

Please remember that once the bidding time is over there will be an assigned volunteer collecting bid sheets. It gets to hectic during this time if volunteers just start pulling sheets. This makes it really hard for the check out process.

We will start hanging lights on the 2^nd of March due to the time constraints. There is another function on Thursday night so we won't be able to get the ball rolling until Friday morning. No worries, it will all work out and go smoothly as long as everyone is in it for fun, it really takes teamwork.

Tiffany has also secured us an Ice Sculpture! It will be surrounded by our steam shrimp, just how cool is this!!

Remember, auction donation forms are in the front office. The top copy is for the office, bottom copy is for the donor and the middle sheet is for your records. Please don't forget to fill these out completely for your items as it allows volunteers to easily send out thank-you notes and tax receipts afterwards.

Thanks for everything you are doing - it is going to be a spectacular event!

Thank you,

Valerie Tuton

Auction Quotes

"I was worried about how much fun an auction could be, but let me tell you... It was a fantastic night filled with great food, drinks, and great company!"

-Kevin Smith-

"I was so pleased to find out that one of our wonderful parents is doing the backyard habitat basket again this year. Make sure you see this one!"

-ASM-

"You can bid, but I'm going to out bid you becuase my granddaughter made it"

-Art Furtney-

Saturday March 6th

A Night Down in Motown!

A Letter from the Head of School

Dear Montessori Parents,

The Auction Fundraiser, Night Down in Motown is next week, March 6^th. So this is the time that we start to wonder if we really will have the same phenomenal success that we have seen in the past two years. So, what are the resources that we have available to us that we have not maximized.

We have a great committee chaired by Valerie Tuton. She has worked in tandem with the committee chairs to make this Auction Fundraiser successful. They have done everything possible to duplicate the success of the previous two years. Thank you to the committees!

Our families have made beautiful baskets that will bring in funds and will create lots of activity and enthusiasm during the event. They have aslo sponsored the event paying as much as $3000. While others have solicited community members to become sponsors.

Our families have gotten over $40,000 worth of goods and services to be items for auction. This helps us to know that the event will be profitable even before it happens. Check out the Auction listing on our website www.jacksonvillemontessori.com.

Dozens of parents will decorate the Rotary Civic Center and work during the event. The volleyball team from Jacksonville High School will assist with the food service during the event.

Restaurants, breweries, and wineries have donated food and drink. You will find it difficult to decide whether to have more shrimp, more sushi, or ice cream.

So, what is left to do and who can do it? Here are my questions.

We know that MCS increased the enrollment for this school year by forty percent. Do all of our new families understand that the Auction funds have made it possible to have an Environmental Education program this year?

Do all of our families plan to attend the event? All of our families are benefiting from the success of the event and it is loads of fun.

Have you asked your friends and family if they would like to buy tickets? Have all of our families promoted the event to their friends and families? The auction gives us an opportunity to get money for the school from the pockets of people outside our school community. Your friends will have so much fun!

Do you know community members that have supported our school and should be given complimentary tickets? When we have $50,000 worth of auction items we want to have people in the house who are willing and able to bid on the items.

We'll see you at the auction. Thank you for what you have contributed to insure another successful fundraiser.

Many thanks,

Peggy Higgins

Do the Math!

The auction is the biggest fundraiser of the year for our school. Last year we had a student body

of around 80 children and we raised a total of $42,469. As most of you know our school has gone through tremendous growth this year by increasing our enrollment by a whopping 40%. So, if you do the math our total this year should be $59,457. Again, this is the biggest fundraiser of the year so get out there and sell, sell, sell those tickets!!!!!!

	Baskets, Baskets we need Baskets!!!!
The Family Baskets bring in a large amount of money for the school. This is a great way to make a difference. Please drop baskets off in the office this week! Thank you, Katie Beasly katiethom@hotmail.com

	You won't miss the Big Game!
The Carolina vs. Duke game will be shown in its entirety at the auction. So if you were considering staying home, DON'T! Come to the auction, drink beer and eat great food while watching the game!!!

"Quote of the Week"

"Character formation cannot be taught. It comes from experience and not from explanation."

-Maria Montessori-