Fernandina Beach Middle School PTO seeks community support

It’s a Friday morning in Fernandina Beach as locals travel down Citrona Drive, en route to work, or to drop their child off at one of the Fernandina Beach schools. The morning monotony is quickly disrupted as commuters reach Fernandina Beach Middle School. 

A bouncing inflatable donkey dances along the drop-off line as students arrive for the day at school. Today, another inflatable creature graced the drop-off line at the school — a surprise for the final day of the “car line spirit squad.”

Parents and teachers have had to get creative to ask for important funding provided by the Parent Teacher Organization for the upcoming school year’s FBMS activities.

The Fernandina Beach Middle School PTO is in the middle of its Pirate Pride Annual Giving Campaign, and PTO leaders are asking the rest of the community to help. The annual month-long fundraiser should be over, but it’s not. It’s been extended because it still is thousands of dollars short of its goal.

The fundraiser began Aug. 22 and was expected to conclude Sept. 22. PTO leaders have extended the efforts until Sept. 30 in an attempt to get to the $12,000 goal — still $4,500 away.

PTO President Holly Lavin said they hold the fundraiser at the beginning of the year to raise money to fund all the things the PTO does for the middle school throughout the year. 

Lavin listed examples of PTO funded endeavors such as All A’s and B’s Celebrations, teacher grants, spirit tables for the games, hot food items during home games for homecoming, decorations 
for certain events, as well as 
everything needed for teacher appreciation week. 

Lavin said, “everybody enjoys the things, but they don’t realize how much goes into making the things possible.”

FBMS PTO Vice-President Lisa Stubbs said the Pirate Pride Annual Giving Campaign is the “backbone” of the program.

“We use it for honor roll celebrations, teacher appreciation, classroom grants, campus beautification, student activities and other special events,” Stubbs said.

As the PTO leaders said, the funds raised during the campaign are crucial to continue certain programs that are supported by the PTO, parents and teachers starting shooting around ideas that could help raise the funds.

Leaders of the PTO said one parent, Stephanie Lunt, has gone above and beyond in this endeavor.

“So one of the parents in a PTO meeting suggested a car line spirit squad and Stephanie was quick to volunteer,” Stubbs described. “She said, ‘I’ll dress up in an inflatable, you know, I’ll shake a pom, pom, I’ll do whatever’s needed,’ and it has been so fun.” 

Stubbs said, though she personally has not dressed up in inflatables, she will be sad when it’s over.

“We’ve done it for four Fridays in a row, and we have music out there now, and last week we also incorporated QR-code cutouts we passed out to the cars. And it’s been so much fun, I’m going to be sad when it’s over,” Stubbs said. “We’re getting one more Friday out of it, so we’ll do it again this Friday, we’ll be out there with our palm palms.”

Lavin said it’s been engaging for the kids, as well.

“It has been such a fun thing for the kids, they look forward to it. We never know what she’s gonna show up wearing, we’ve had Shrek, we’ve had a unicorn,” Lavin said. “For the kids just to see that on Fridays — everybody thinks that they are over everything but they really do enjoy a fun thing. They love it just as much as the younger kids and the bigger kids.”

In regard to her dressing up Fridays for the spirit lines, Lunt told the News-Leader on Wednesday, “I’d do anything for the kids.” 

Today is the last day the school will hold its car line spirit squad as a part of the fundraiser. Lunt wanted to keep the last inflatable a surprise for the middle schoolers and parents, so she did not disclose what inflatable she would be wearing today.

Lunt said getting creative was necessary because fundraising in the middle school is particularly challenging.

“Fundraising at the elementary level is easier, you know, the kids are cute and small and asking their neighbor and their grandparents and you get to middle school, and it becomes this awkward age of independence, you know, the kids aren’t necessarily as motivated to support the fundraising process, per se,” Lunt explained. “They have their own little challenges that they’re going through, and then and then you get to high school and you know, parents kind of re-engage, because it’s like, ‘Oh gosh, I gotta get my kid into the real world.’”

Lunt has two kids enrolled at the middle school and one at the high school. She also previously headed the FBHS Foundation as president. Lunt said the idea of the inflatables on Friday mornings was meant to be a fun and positive way to re-engage parents and students into the fundraising process.

“Blow-up costumes on a Friday morning, like, who wouldn’t smile at that? Who wouldn’t have a good time?” Lunt said. “I’ve been trying to theme them out each week.” 

Despite the fun activities added and the slight increase in funds raised, the goal line still sits more than $4,000 away and the PTO leaders are urging the community to get involved. 

“Every penny invested in a kid is an investment in the community, period,” Lavin said. 

For those who still want to donate can do so through the Gofan page at https://gofan.co/event/6841488?schoolId=FL78328_4.

“Everybody knows our teachers, they give everything they have,” Lavin said, adding that they want to do “any little thing we can do to pour back into them and say, ‘thank you, we acknowledge you, you’re amazing, we’re thankful that the kids have you.’” 

Each school has its own PTO, which focuses on raising funds for school activities. For more information on the FBMS PTO, visit https://www.nassau.k12.fl.us/o/fbms/page/pto.