REFLECTION ZONE: Stakeholders

I think all teachers are stakeholders, but I specifically chose the team of 6th grade teachers as a group of stakeholders in our district.  This is a group of people who have a stake in our school and greatly impact our educational system. 
One thing this group of teachers does each year is the cookie dough fundraiser. These teachers double check each student's order and count the money that each of their homeroom students bring in.  One year, when I had 28 students in homeroom, I alone had over $10,000 sitting in my desk.  It took quite awhile to count the money (each time I picked up an envelope and felt or heard coins jingling I would cringe), call the parents of the students who are short or over to make sure everything was accurate, and to record how many dimes, quarters, $1, $5, $10 bills, $14 checks... were collected for the records of our district office.  It is a pretty time consuming project. 
The profit we make is quite large. Money earned from this fundraiser is used for MANY things and experiences that greatly impact our students. It pays for the gas needed for buses for fieldtrips so students pay $0 for the fieldtrips and the food they eat on these trips during their 6th grade year.  Specifically the money is used for the Camp Wapo experience where students attend camp, eat breakfasts, lunches and dinners, and spend the night in cabins.  This is an expensive fieldtrip that is funded entirely by the cookie dough fundraiser.  We usually have money left over.  This money has gone towards the purchase of the following things for all students in the middle school.

• sleds for recess
• recess equipment
• a large tv for the media room
• equipment for the workout room and phy ed. dept.
• Some years we put the extra money in a cd that would come due during their junior year, and they could use this for their prom.

There is a great deal of extra time and energy that goes into this fundraiser.  The impact of this fundraiser and the benefits reaped from this group’s hard work are also great. Primarily the sixth graders receive the most benefits, but so do other middle school students.  Students are impacted by this group again as juniors in high school.  I view the 6th grade team of teachers, as well as all teachers, as a group of stakeholders in our district.