Over the course of the week, we aim to raise $100,000 to cover school expenses like an IB education, educational supports, and basic supplies. To get our community excited for this very special week, the kids will have a spirit week where they will dress in the color they are seeking to “earn” that day, which will then be added as a color station to the Color Run at the end of the week. For every $25k pledged, a new color is earned!

Swigert Gives is the most important annual fundraising campaign for our school.

Swigert is an International Baccalaureate (IB) school where your child receives the intellectual, personal, emotional, and social skills to live, learn, and work in a rapidly globalizing world. To be certified as an IB school, we must fund an IB coordinator, a foreign language program, and supplement funds to keep our teachers IB trained. This comes at a cost of more than $100,000 each year. This cost is not covered by the Denver Public Schools.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Why?

Core funding for our school comes from Denver Public Schools. This funding, which ranks in the bottom half of the United States, does not support or sustain a quality education that includes IB curriculum, art, gifted and talented programs, math interventions, social emotional education, reading supports, STEM, and more. To provide a well-rounded educational experience, we have developed a culture of giving at Swigert International School. We encourage parents to give of their time, money and talent every year.

Where do these contributions go?

Funding supports/contributes to:

• IB Program Fee

• IB Teacher Training

• Our Spanish program

• STEM Training at NASA

• The school garden

• International Night

• Winterfest

• Outdoor classroom creation and maintenance

• New playground equipment (Gaga pit, Structures, etc.)

• Field Trips Busing

• IB Provocations like igneous rock fudge, meal worm jars, visual performances, speakers, time machines, parts of a plant meals, etc.

• Virtual field trips

• IB Fieldwork initiatives/coordination: Stanley Social Action posters, Food Pantry Volunteering, Balfour visits, speakers, etc.

• Service Day projects benefiting the wider community

• Paraprofessionals to lower student:teacher ratios

• Weekly backpacks of food to families with food insecurity

• The 5th Grade Dance

• The Welcome Breakfast

• Trunk or Treat

• The Color Run

• Bingo Night

• Movie Night

• Presentations of Learning supplies like posters and costumes

• Feature tables highlighting cultural celebrations around the world

• Arts Integration Units

• Art supplies like clay, yarn, markers, and paint

• Displays of kids work, art, and social emotional skills on the walls (and any indoor decorations)

• PE Equiptment

• Teacher appreciation meals and shows of gratitude

• Lamination film, binders, paper clips, pens, printer ink, bulletin board paper, general supplies

• Friday Folders, welcome folders for new families, Kindergarten roundup supplies

• Subscriptions to improve reading: Lexia, Epic, etc.

How much should I give?

We are asking for a one-time donation of $450 per student attending Swigert for the current school year. In the past, we have held multiple fundraisers throughout the year, or had kids participate in fundraising sales. After feedback from our community, we want to offer a single donation option for families. You can donate the $450/student upfront and know you have met your family's fundraising responsibility for the year. If you prefer to give throughout the year, there are options to break up your donation into monthly or quarterly installments. For those able to donate more than $450/student, please donate what you can to help support those unable to contribute at this level. It takes a village, and we need all the support we can get to reach our goal!

Can family and friends donate too?

Of course! All support is welcome. Please mention the campaign to other family members, neighbors, and friends to help us reach our individual goal.

Does your company match?

Don’t forget to check with your company to see if they match your donations. Hundreds of companies do corporate matching, and this is a great way to maximize your donation.

Should I wait to give to make sure the kids get all the colors?

Simply: no. If we raise $100,000 on the first day, the kids will still have their fun, colorful outfits each day and will have earned all of the colors for the Color Run early. There’s truly no harm in donating early- the kids love the palette trackers on the fence and would be thrilled to see the whole thing full by mid-week!

Color Run 

What is the Color Run?

It’s a fun run around the field where students will run through color stations of “chalk” which is colorful cornstarch. By reaching a daily fundraising goal, the students "earn" a color station for the run, building a palette of fun by the end of the week. The Swigert PTA wants all students to be passionate about IB and our school. Every child participates and celebrates the donations, regardless if their family was able to contribute. All students will participate in a Colorful way on 10/3, with it scaled to age appropriateness.

Where is the Color Run?

The run will take place on the playground on the large grass field inside the gates during school hours October 3th. Your child CAN NOT leave with you until you check them out with their teacher at the end of the day. Kinder will start 2:15pm and older grades will follow!

 Can Parents Help/Watch/Come?

Yes! If you’d like to volunteer to throw the chalk or put on the race, please sign up via the link in the Eagle Post. If you don’t want to get messy but want to help us celebrate, we are asking parents to come at 2:05 and wave rainbow ribbons as a fun way to participate (we will provide). Gates will close at 2:15pm and parents/guardians arriving after will need to watch from outside the gates.

What should my student wear?

Every child will receive a t-shirt to wear over their clothes for the run.  Wear older clothes , shoes, and bring sunglasses.

Can I make the color stay?

 Probably not. Since the shirts are white, we do not wet the kids enough to really latch onto the powder. It’s still super fun and the kids enjoy the day. You can wash the child’s shirt alone in the wash, removing the color, and you now have a free Spirit Wear shirt! Feel free to tie dye them or get creative for future school spirit events!

What if my child doesn’t want to do the run?

Every year we have kids who do not want to be wet, do not want color, etc. We will honor your child’s wishes and they can opt out by letting their teacher know. The youngest Eagles always get the kindest “throws” of powder from the parent volunteers. The 5th graders seem to enjoy getting doused by their final year.

Will there be pictures again?

The incredibly talented, Morgan Lynn Photography will be taking pictures of the run. These are joyful, colorful, and free to download after the event. Look for a link in a future Eagle Post and on Facebook to see your child’s smiling face!

Thank you for your support - Swigert is an amazing school with people like you!