Help Challenger Elementary fund a classroom!

All students at Challenger along with staff members are fundraising to add back a classroom that is being cut. We can't have 30 Third Graders in a classroom! We have to do something and try to help our school and our students!

Challenger Elementary School in Thief River Falls, MN is facing major cuts for the 2023-24 school year. 5 teaching positions (4 Classroom and 1 reading specialist) will be cut. These cuts will lead to larger class sizes and less individual attention for students.

The largest concern is in 3rd grade where class sizes are projected to reach 30 students! These students are second grader now in classes that average 20 students. 30 kids per room are too many for age.

Classrooms will also be cut in 2nd grade and Kindergarten as well. We would love to raise funds to restore all cut positions, but feel saving one is a realistic goal.

3rd grade was chosen because their class sizes will be the largest at Challenger.

Due to the unique purpose of this fundraiser, it was determined that it is essential to:

1. be very specific with the purpose.

2. store funds raised separate from general funds.

3. use funds for the intended and advertised purpose.

Challenger is selling student designed and engraved tumblers as part of this fundraiser. This GoFundMe is an option for those that would like to donate directly to the $70k goal. There is no plan to ship tumblers at this time. If you are local and would like to purchase tumblers contact Courtney Skjerven(see form on Challenger Facebook page). The fundraiser is in phase 1 where forms were sent home with students. It will go community wide in the very near future.

This GoFundMe was set up with permission from the school district. The district has a policy against their employees setting up GoFundMe accounts to raise funds for school projects (They don't want multiple GoFundMe's going on in buildings for a bunch of different projects).

For this special project the superintendent and business manager allowed this GoFundMe to be set up as long as it was set up by a non-district employee.

I, Joni Skjerven, am the wife of technology teacher and fundraiser supervisor, Courtney Skjerven. I also have 3 daughters in the school district(2 at Challenger and 1 at Franklin.) All funds donated to this GoFundMe will go directly to the Challenger Elementary School "Fund a Classroom" Fundraiser as the fundraiser completes. Documentation of that transfer of funds will be available upon request.