Enriching School Culture with Great Fundraising Events
Looking to do better with the fundraising culture at your school?
Do you want to leave real legacy, not just from the funding raised, but also from the fundraiser ITSELF?
Then this post is for you!
In the wider culture we celebrate our birthdays, religious holidays, and other cultural milestones because events like ANZAC Day (for example), give us a personal sense of identify and helps define our national spirit. It all adds up to make a stronger culture. In essence, the things we celebrate together (as a community), define who we are a society.
Building a strong school culture is no different!
“I think in cultures, you’ve got to have events and to make a strong culture you’ve got to have celebration. Today was really about that for us.”
Schools that hold quality events, to celebrate school life, normally have an awesome school spirit because events like that:
Reinforce Values and Beliefs: Celebratory events provide an opportunity for a school community to come together and place a spotlight on their shared values. For example, the School Fun Run is a non-competitive event. It's all about giving the kids a fun day that is free from the normal school hierarchy. We often see the youngest prep students having fun with the Principal and/or the Grade 6's. By having a laugh, and moving around the course together, this event can break down social barriers to improve student wellbeing.
Build a Sense of Unity: Celebratory events foster a sense of unity and fellowship among the members of a school community. They bring people together, creating a shared experience and a feeling of belonging. Events like the School Fun Run promote social cohesion and strengthen the bonds between individuals within the school culture. The bottom line is that they create a sense of belonging. By enjoying a day like this together, you can use the School Fun Run to bind your stakeholders with a common purpose that centres on friendship... which also contains a strong anti-bullying message!
Creating Positive Memories: This is where positive events like a School Fun Run come into their own. The School Fun Run is a joyous occasion that creates bucket loads of positive memories for individuals and families. Let's say its full of Instagram friendly moments ;) These experiences form a collective bank of shared memories for your community that strengthen the emotional connection between the members that make up your school's culture. Positive memories associated with celebrations contribute to a sense of pride and nostalgia, enhancing cultural affinity with your school.
Marking Significant Milestones: Events and celebrations like the School Fun Run are a way to mark significant milestones or achievements within a culture. For example, if your school is turning 25, 50 or 100 years old... a School Fun Run would be a great addition to your calendar of events. It's just a great way of commemorating historical events by bring your community together in respect of a great cause.
Preserving Tradition and Heritage: Celebrations often revolve around cultural traditions and heritage. School Fun Run was started in 1987, back then we were called the 'Golden Circle School Fun Run' and we find many parents today participated in that event when they were primary school students in the 1980's and 1990's. So, while many people don’t remember their Math lesson and English lessons, they do recall their Fun Run days at school and as cool that they can share that now with the kids School Fun Run too. By using an event like the School Fun Run you can ensure these great moments are shared across generations - and that's a showstopper when it comes to building school spirit. Along these lines, events like this can be a platform for creating traditions, passing on rituals, and practices, thereby safeguarding the culture's unique identity and history. We often heard P&C's and P&F's talk about 'leaving legacies' and why don’t have the event itself be a legacy along with the funding it raises!
Promoting Social Interaction: The School Fun Run brings people together, encouraging social interaction and fostering relationships within the community. They provide an opportunity for individuals to connect, communicate, and engage in shared activities, leading to a stronger sense of community and social integration at school.
Encouraging Positive Values and Behaviours: Celebrations often emphasise and promote positive values and behaviours within a culture. They serve as a platform to reinforce virtues such as gratitude, generosity, kindness, respect, and unity. By celebrating these values, strong cultures reinforce the importance of living by them and inspire individuals to embody them in their daily lives.
Cultural Diversity: Schools are melting pots of diverse students from various cultural backgrounds. Celebrating culture helps foster an inclusive environment that appreciates and embraces the diverse heritage, traditions, and customs of the student body. It promotes understanding, respect, and tolerance among students from different cultural backgrounds. In that sense, a School Fun Run would be a perfect event to hold on Harmony Day or any time during Naidoc Week. Indeed, celebrating culture brings students, teachers, and families together, fostering a sense of community and unity. These events provide opportunities for interaction and collaboration among students from diverse backgrounds, promoting social cohesion and friendship across cultural boundaries.
Overall, holding events in celebration of school life will help build a strong culture. That's because events like School Fun Run can serve as important occasions to reinforce values, build unity, preserve tradition, create positive memories, mark milestones, promote social interaction, and encourage positive values and behaviours. These events play a vital role in nurturing and sustaining a strong school identity and fostering a sense of belonging among the students, teaching staff and parents. This engagement fosters strong partnerships between schools and families, promoting a supportive educational ecosystem that values cultural diversity and the contributions of all stakeholders.
If you would like to learn more about a School Fun Run can enrich your school culture, please request information below or click here and read this article.
