Montessori Radmoor

Fundraising at Montessori Radmoor School

As with so many traditions at Montessori Radmoor, our annual fundraising event has evolved considerably to meet the needs of the schools and our families.

Regardless of the event theme or location, our goal has always been to support the Lila M. Radway Scholarship fund, established in 1997. (This fund was named after a parent who was instrumental in expanding both our physical building and programs in the 1980s.) This program was greatly supported with a $10,000 gift from a board member in 2000.  Our other prominent funded project was the school greenhouse.   The greenhouse is utilized by every classroom in the school and incorporated into the curriculum.

Event History

In the Spring of 2002, the staff conducted the very family-friendly carnival themed “Spring Fling” which was held at the school, complete with ponies in the parking lot. The gym was transformed to support our very “low-tech” silent auction and each classroom held crafts and activities for the children. Staff scurried to close out auction sections and manually tally the results and payments. It was a very popular event, but extremely challenging to support with our small staff. We continued this tradition for several years.

In 2005, we held our first formal “After Hours” Silent Auction off school grounds, at the Brookshire Inn in Williamston. The event took a decidedly more “adult” turn with dancing, cocktails and a greatly expanded silent auction. In the years that followed, we continued this tradition at other locations with the most recent at Walnut Hills Country Club. Each year, the most popular auction items included the stunning, hand-made class projects completed by each classroom. We implemented an auction database and on-line registration process, thus automating the event considerably.

In 2012, we held our first “Night at the Museum” Family Gala at the Michigan Historical Museum.  The venue, format and activities were a hit.  The children had an “all access pass” to the museum.  We also had benefit of the museum’s costumed docents, who provided tours and crafts throughout the museum.  Our host for the evening was WLNS broadcaster Evan Pinsonnault.

How Do We Use Event Proceeds?

Over the years, our annual fundraising efforts have contributed to major renovations and purchases for the school, including, but not limited to:

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  • Greenhouse
  • New gym floor
  • Wetlands Observation Deck
  • Commercial Dishwasher
  • New kitchen flooring
  • Commercial washer dryer and lunch fridge/freezer
  • Updates to the staff kitchen

[/fancy_list]

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