Giggles And Smiles Fill OES For ‘Fun Day’

OES students having a good time Tuesday at OES 'Fun Day'

Oskaloosa, Iowa – Summer vacation is almost here, and the Oskaloosa Elementary students got to spend part of their next to last day hanging out with their classmates, laughing, chatting and having a good time.

The Oskaloosa PTO once again sponsored the ‘Fun Day’ with funds raised during the year, providing inflatable games in the commons area and gymnasium. There they could find slides, bounce houses, skee ball and many other fun things to do.

Paying for the all the games comes from the $33,000 that the PTO raised in the past year from their Read-A-Thon, which “is a student-based fundraiser where they take pledges to read for up to an hour or have guest readers come in.”

Another couple fundraisers over the past year were being able to “slime the principles” that helped to raise funds, along with the corporate fund drive that also helped to bring in $8,000.

“Fun Day is a culmination of all the events the PTO provides throughout the year, and it costs about $5,000,” says PTO President Kim Tighe, who says they are now in their seventh year of the event.

Tighe says that they have relied upon and used the same company for all of those seven years to provide the inflatables and says that, “it runs smoother because we all know what we like, what we don’t like.”

Tighe also said that they try to bring in new and different types of inflatables every other year so that those in the younger grades will enjoy some variety by the time they move on to the middle school.

It was hard pressed not to find a smile on a student, but as Tighe pointed out, “And the teachers, I think, have a good time too.” Finding an occasional teacher going down a slide or otherwise joining in on the fun wasn’t too difficult either. “Many of the teachers are caught with their socks on going down the inflatables also,” Tighe said.

For those interested in becoming a part of the PTO, Tighe says that if you have a student enrolled in the elementary, your an automatic member. You can also sign up at www.ptomanager.com and they will help you find something you would want to help with such as volunteering in the classroom, in house programs and many other avenues of volunteerism to explore.