TJ’s science department raises money by selling festive holiday decor to students’ families and friends.
Artwork by Mia Nogueira
As the holiday season quickly approaches, the annual sales of Poinsettias are upon us. Every year, the Thomas Jefferson Science Department puts together a fundraiser in which students sell these seasonal plants to friends, family, and everyone else who wishes to decorate their home with one for the holidays.
TJ’s AP Biology Teacher, Scott Thomas, director of the fundraiser, has high hopes for this year’s sales, considering in past years the department has sold nearly eleven thousand poinsettias, and annually makes anywhere from three to four thousand dollars. “We see about three dollars per plant that we sell, even though they are sold for twelve,” Thomas states. “All of the money we raise goes to buying necessities for the science classes that our school budget doesn’t cover.” For Thomas’ biology class, they put their money towards items such as plants or animals, that cannot be used again, while chemistry utilized their extra allowance for buying more chemicals, and physics uses their extra money for new educational “toys,” as Physics Teacher Nelson Vore always calls them.
While every science teacher has access to the extra money raised, for the most part it is separated out as to who gets what amount by how much each teachers’ students raise. “All the teachers get the money that their students raise. I keep track of when the teachers place orders for new supplies, and take that out of their sum of money,” Thomas continues. “However, you’re not only limited to just the money your kids made. If the teachers need a little bit extra, we are all normally very open and kind about it.”
Although this fundraiser is for a good cause, every year there is a friendly competition within the science department to see who can sell the most poinsettias. “I always win…” says Thomas, laughing. “This year, however, I think Mr. Vore is trying to put up a fight and beat me.”
If students’ families are interested in purchasing one of these festive flowers, every science teacher hands out order forms to their students.
