Blog: El Camino Creek Elementary School host carnival to support education

Margaret Mead once said, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.” This Friday, the parents at El Camino Creek Elementary (Carlsbad, CA) plan to put her words into action. Their Educational Foundation (ECC Fund) is hosting a school carnival in hopes of raising nearly $50,000. On May 17 from 3:00pm to 7:00pm, they will transform the school playground into an arena filled with food vendors, carnival games, jumpies, silent auction booths, specialty raffle baskets and more. It literally is a family friendly event with something enjoyable for everyone, even a car show for the Dads! New this year are more parent oriented activities such as a spa tents with manicures, massage tables and even a wine ring toss. But beneath all the fun and games is a very serious motive. The goal is to raise enough money to keep all the school’s music, science and technology consultants.

In today’s age of budget cuts, the financial responsibility of a quality education falls to the parents. Without parent support, fundraisers and donations, our children lose out on valuable educational components. Schools do their best to fill in the gaps, but without extra funds they cannot offer truly comprehensive programs. Selling strawberries, gift wrap and even a carnival ticket or two has become a survival tactic for all our schools. And while the months of planning and hard work fall on a few thoughtful, committed citizens to organize the event, it is up to the community at large to support their efforts. For this reason, ECC’s carnival is open to the public and admission is free. If you have a child at ECC, a child who will one day attend ECC, a graduate of ECC or simply are looking for something fun to do on a Friday night, you may purchase your tickets online here or at the school’s front gate the day of the event. Even if you can only stay a little while, buy a few tickets, play a few games and bid on a few of the items. Who knows, you just might win a dinner party for 10 with a private chef, a one-week stay in a 2 bedroom villa at the Maui Westin Ka’anapali, or a one week stay in a 3 bedroom Lake Tahoe townhouse. You definitely will win the appreciation of the students of ECC. They are hoping for your support. All they need is a few thoughtful, committed citizens to walk through their front gate next Friday. Indeed, they are hoping it will be you.