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The Better Schools Bonanza returns to Main Street Connect this year to offer elementary schools a chance to win $10,000 for programs and supplies. What does that sort of money mean for a school? For one Norwalk mother with children in last year's winning school, it means a lot.
"When we won the $10,000 we were so excited, it was such a sense of accomplishment!" says Audra Good of Norwalk. "We were able to announce it just before Thanksgiving vacation, which gave us a great morale boost that lasted throughout the school year."
Supporting Brookside Elementary has been of key importance to Good for nine years. All three of her children walked its halls. She serves as the vice president of the Parent Teacher Organization and as the Council Representative for Brookside. She's also a priority aid at the school.
The rewards started small for Brookside, with the students earning an ice cream party after winning the initial $500 prize. The $10,000 prize they ended up winning bought a lot more than just a day of frozen treats.
"Our first purchase was for new risers for our concerts. We have a wonderful chorus and strings programs and the risers we had were unsafe for the children," Good says. The safety upgrade didn't eat up all of the funds, and the school was also able to purchase new technology for the classrooms.
This year's Better Schools Bonanza is sponsored by Arthur Murray Grande Ballroom of Greenwich. Fairfield County elementary schools are welcome to participate, and at the close of contest, Main Street Connect will announce one $10,000 and one $1,000 winner. All prizes will be paid to the winning school's PTA or PTO.
Additionally, every school gathering at least 500 votes on the contest website will receive $500. The first school to hit that mark this year was in Westchester County, where Main Street Connect launched 32 sites earlier this year. The Westchester Better Schools Bonanza contest is being held separately from Fairfield County's contest and is sponsored by Entergy. Each county will have its own grand and second prize winners.
"We are very appreciative to the www.TheDailyNorwalk.com [Main Street Connect's Norwalk news site] for the boost to our school both in morale and financially, and we are spreading the word again to try to win this year's contest. There is still so much more we could use the money for to help our students," Good says.
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