PTA Readathon Raises 50K For Grand View Elementary

MANHATTAN BEACH, CA —The Grand View Elementary Readathon fundraiser has hit the $50,000 mark, far surpassing the initial $10,000 goal, fundraisers announced on Wednesday.

"We are also excited to announce that one of our local GV family businesses, Giant
Smiles Dental, office of Dr. Greg Ray, has stepped up to support your efforts and
is making one final sponsorship donation that will put us over the top for a grand
total of $50,000," Kate Sinclair, Lori Rooney, GV PTA, and Heidi Snively, Library Resource Specialist said in the announcement.

Grand View also named its Top Readers and Classes:

Top Class – Most Minutes
Mrs. DiBiase’s 5th Grade class

Top Class – Highest Fundraising
Mrs. Cross’s 2nd Grade Class

Top Reader in the School – Most Minutes
Evelyn Amezquita, Mrs. Robertson 5th Grade

Top Reader in the School – Highest Fundraising
Linus & Leontine Sinclair – tied, Mrs. Robertson 5th Grade & Mrs. Cross 2nd Grade

Top Grade Level Winners – Most Minutes
Kindergarten: Oliver Tang, Mrs. Deragisch
1st Grade: Will Newton, Mrs. Olson
2nd Grade: Leontine Sinclair, Mrs. Cross
3rd Grade: Cole Lynch, Mrs. Dever
4th Grade: Madison Nolting, Mrs. Kinzer
5th Grade: Linus Sinclair, Mrs. Robertson

Top Grade Level Winners – Highest Fundraising
Kindergarten: Oliver Tang, Mrs. Deragisch
1st Grade: Jackson Borah, Mrs. Guelff
2nd Grade: Jalen Kao, Mrs. Cross
3rd Grade: James Meenaghan, Mrs. Borah
4th Grade: Ember & Alia Vanzura- tied, Mrs. Shaw-Bueno & Mrs. Fairbrother
5th Grade: Kellen Kao, Mrs. DiBiase

"What started out as a small fundraising event has outperformed what we would have ever expected," VP of Fundraising, Grand View PTA, Kate Sinclair told Patch. The Grand View Readathon is geared toward encouraging a love of independent reading and also giving students an opportunity to raise money for their school. "Our initial goal was to raise $10,000 to help underwrite Grand View's library and literacy needs (books, technology, licensing fees, new equipment, etc.)," Sinclair said.

The idea was brought to the school over the summer by Library Resource Specialist Heidi Snively. "We loved the concept and were excited to launch it for our students," Sinclair said. "Then COVID hit, and this became our only major fundraiser."

Sinclair says there was uncertainty at first about how the students and parents would respond. "But everyone just knocked it out of the park," she said. "The teachers, students, and families have truly embraced the idea and sparked a huge outpouring of enthusiasm and commitment."

According to Sinclair, 75% of the student body— or 386 readers— participated for the two-week campaign. Each child, K– 5th grade, set a personal reading goal for themselves and asked family members and friends to support their efforts and reading challenge by making a donation on their reader profile page. In total, the students took part in over 2300 hours of reading.

Because the funds exceeded the $10,000 goal that was designated for the library, the PTA is turning to students and families that participated to vote on what they'd like the rest of the funds to go toward. Some priorities include the purchase of mature trees for the new GV campus, new furniture for the soon-to-be-completed classrooms, and cold water hydration stations near the playground and fields.

Readathon community partners, Pages Bookstore and the Simms Restaurant Group, worked with the school to create a special GV Readathon section in the store and on their website with titles for readers in all grades. "In addition, they [donated] book prizes to the Top Readers and a percentage of sales back to the school," Sinclair said.

The announcement can be found on the school's website.