Blimey! It's the Crocodile Hunter, Here to Help Your School Raise Cash!

Blimey! It's the Crocodile Hunter, Here to Help Your School Raise Cash!

Educators Turn to Fundraisers Low on Calories, Big on Learning

WASHINGTON, Aug. 15 /PRNewswire/ -- You may pick up the products from girl scouts outside grocery stores, kids knocking on your door, or supportive parents at work, but despite the low-frill nature of school fundraising, such efforts last year put almost $1.7 billion into band equipment, athletic uniforms, playground equipment, and field trips.*

Today, however, the school fundraiser is a double-edged sword. Schools are moving to eliminate junk food and soda in vending machines and the cafeteria, but the two most popular fundraising products are cookie dough and other frozen / refrigerated batter.

Enter the Crocodile Hunter. Well, sort of. He can't get your child off the couch, but as part of a program called Learning Adds Up, portions of his show and others like his can provide a viable, healthy alternative to today's calorie-laden fundraisers. According to the program's sponsor, Discovery Education, Learning Adds Up packs a double fundraising punch.

Schools participating in Learning Adds Up (http://learningaddsup.com/) will swap out cookie dough and donuts for annual subscriptions to COSMEO, Discovery Education's online homework help service that uses video-based learning. COSMEO features 30,000 videos, including familiar Discovery programming like the Crocodile Hunter, the Jeff Corwin Experience and even American Chopper.

Subscriptions will be sold by students to raise money for their schools during the 2006-2007 school year with as much as 25 percent of subscription fees going directly to schools.

According to Carole Gooden, a teacher and distance learning specialist who is currently engaging schools in her district to participate in Learning Adds Up, this approach minimizes the time students spend on fundraising, while maximizing school income.

"Everyone wins with this fundraising model, because parents are purchasing a product that reinforces what their kids learn in school, and the school receives much-needed resources," she says.

Melanie Bowen, Executive Vice President of the Home Services division at Discovery Education believes that Learning Adds Up has the potential to revolutionize how school districts raise money.

"When a student sells COSMEO, the school benefits not only from the initial sale, but also from the recurring revenue they receive when families renew subscriptions each year," she says.

Schools can use the money without restriction -- for scholarships, computer equipment, and books, or to support teams, clubs, and even class parties and any organization associated with K-12 public, private, parochial or military schools within the United States can enroll. Parents, teachers and PTA / PTO organizations can also sign their school up to participate.

* Editor's note: Association of Fundraising Distributors and Suppliers' annual survey.

Source: Discovery Education

CONTACT: Shermaze Ingram of Discovery Education, +1-301-272-2594

Web site: http://learningaddsup.com/

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