The unfortunate reality for many rural public high schools is a lack of funding. As a result, many of those schools have tough decisions to make regarding where their little funding goes. However, fundraising is a way for interested students, involved parents, and dedicated school staff to come together and raise money for school trips, events, and equipment that have the potential to create lasting memories for the students.
“I think that we do have a really supportive community where people care, and people want to maintain a tradition of excellence,” Principal Ron Perry said.
A chaotic collage of random sections of How to Train Your Dragon, Lord of the Rings, Tales from the Crypt, City of Stars, and Pure Imagination all clash against each other as students anxiously practice their parts one last time before opening the doors for their spring orchestra fundraiser, the Movie and Marinara auction.
This is just one of the examples of the fundraisers that support our school’s programs. Without the generosity of our community, athletes would have to pay for their awards, musicians would have to pay
for expensive equipment and instruments, and clubs would have to pay for events independently.
The ArMack Orchestra’s Movie and Marinara auction on May 2nd and 3rd raised money for the program’s costs, like sheet music, instrument repair, uniforms, etc., and traveling expenses. “Each year costs about $1,500 just to tune [the pianos] one time,” Cassandra Moulton-Rizzo, a music teacher at Arcata and Mckinleyville, said.
One challenge this year was that there were three fundraisers in six weeks. “It’s a lot that we already ask our community to come out for and donate for and then having them all stacked on top of each other,” Moulton said.
Another amazing fundraiser at AHS was the TIGER’s Inc. dinner auction on March 30th which raised $32,374.66 to support the athletics department and purchase sports awards for all athletes.
“It’s a lot of planning […] The planning for the auction starts a year in advance,” Hanh Trieu said, with the date and location of the auction being booked at the beginning of the prior academic year.
Most of the sports teams helped out. Volleyball was in charge of setting 
up and decorations, football set up the tables, tennis ran the bar, basketball got numerous live auction donations and Sammy’s BBQ, and cross country, track and field, swim, and softball cleaned up the event. “There’s months of preparation and the biggest preparation is getting donations. And that’s not always easy,” Trieu said.
Live student-performed music filled the AHS FAB as interacters whizzed around setting up tables and prepped spaghetti, salad, and bread for their spaghetti fundraiser on April 26th. The event raised $2000 for RAGAS, Rotary Action Group Against Slavery.
“It was great to see so many people there. We did better than we’ve done in previous years, and we’re hoping that next year will be even more successful,” Interact Vice President Noah Macknicki said.
Unfortunately, fundraising takes meticulous planning, countless hours of behind-the-scenes work, and many willing volunteers. Currently, it’s a small group of people doing most of the work. “[It’s]a collection of small parents, going above and beyond for the benefit of the kids […] so send out the clarion call, let’s get some parents involved,” Perry said.
