Osborne Elementary's Race for Education raises record funds

Students ran the track squealing with joy and excitement during the morning of Oct. 20 as they participated in Osborne Elementary’s annual Race for Education. This year, Osborne set a new record, raising more than $53,000.

“Our biggest total in years past was $33K,” said Tracey Hartman, Home and School Association president. “I am honestly just so overwhelmed by it all. We have a great school and now we can make it even better.”

The Race for Education is the primary fundraiser sponsored by the HSA and provides funding for supplementary learning activities such as field trips, the school garden and gARTen club, field day, assemblies and more.

Students and their families were charged with asking friends, families and businesses to donate to or sponsor the event. Students are able to earn prizes for invitations, individual donation totals, class participation and class donation totals, as well as other fun categories on the day of the race.

“We had the most participation we ever had in the school and overall, we were at 90% student participation which comes from sending an email or getting a donation,” Hartman said. “Our goal was to get 75% school participation. The reward is Kona Ice coming to the school on a future date for all students.”

Hartman also said that the focus for fundraising is on teamwork and school-wide participation. The second and third grades led the pack with most funds raised, and 10 students earned $25 gift cards to Urban Air for being the top fundraisers in the school. Hartman said they had more than 250 prize donations this year, including Penguins tickets, gift cards, Squishmallows, toys, books, sports balls, zoo tickets, Matchbox cars and more. Prizes were awarded through a random drawing of all students who participated in the race. In addition, each student receives a Blaze Personal Pizza gift certificate from the Blaze in Robinson Township and a bookmark with Race for Education 2022 on it.

In addition to students and their classrooms raising funds, many local businesses sponsored the race, donating $14,000 in sponsorship funds. These businesses included Sewickley Veterinary Hospital, PetWellClinic, Piatt Sotheby’s International Realty, and JMS Capital Group, and more.

“It was great to see our community and students come together during the Race for Education,” said Osborne principal Ben Canan, who participated in his first race, running with and racing many of his students. “Our students had a fantastic time, and I was taken aback by the amazing generosity of our Osborne families. We are lucky to have families and a community that puts such a significant investment into the learning opportunities of their children.”

The Race for Education is a major undertaking and requires countless volunteer hours, and planning begins six months prior to the actual event. Hartman shared that the efforts of her Race for Education committee and HSA board members Dan and Rachel Morin, Heidi McGurgan, Lisa Minn and Traci Fruehauf as well as other parent volunteers and HSA members made the event the most successful yet.

Donations are still being accepted through their online platform 99 Pledges at app.99pledges.com/fund/OsborneHSA.