School fundraising is often a fixed event that includes the sale of food or other items to the public, but the Parsons High School Dustkickers are moving outside the box.
“This year we are helping around town and the community to do whatever they need us to,” Dustkicker Heidi Shultz said.
Dustkicker sponsor Kylie Lucas explained the idea, in which the girls work for donations.
“The most recent thing on our agenda is marketing ourselves as being able to help out at any type of event,” Lucas said. “We are trying to be flexible to meet the needs of our community. We want to make sure we are representing Parsons High School in a positive capacity and helping our town to know what kinds of amazing students we have here at PHS, giving back with our talents.
“With being a dance team, there are different individuals on the team that have different skills and hobbies and connections to other organizations or groups,” Lucas said.
Just before the elementary Sneak Peak, they were asked by the PTO to decorate the sidewalks in front of the schools. The Parsons Recreation Commission is asking the girls to help with the Princess Tea Party.
“If there is a need for that, we want other people to know and be available to provide those same types of services,” Lucas said.
They will also be providing entertainment for community events like both Relay for Life and Oktoberfest.
“The girls made a donation to the Karma School of Dance, which is the new competition dance studio here in town. They were having an open house and as one of the door prizes, we donated a two hour dance party, where they will go and teach a dance to who won that particular door prize and up to 10 of her friends.”
But Lucas said they are looking to do more.
“What we have in mind is something like birthday parties for an elementary aged child if the daughter is wanting to have her friends over and the parent is unsure how to fill that time. I can speak as a parent there are things my child wants to do that I can’t necessarily afford. The Dustkickers want to make sure there is an affordable option to help our younger generation celebrate their birthday, so we could come in and teach a dance. We could come in and provide simple manicures. We could also be available to perform.,” Lucas said. “We also do face painting.”
There is potential for the team to help decorate for other kinds of parties if that service is needed.
“I know for me, I love to plan parties but setting up, preparing for them becomes stressful. If you are not hosting at your home, wherever you have planned your party it’s a lot of trips back and forth from your vehicle into the venue, setting up chairs, tables and putting on table clothes, putting out cutlery and just getting things looking aesthetically nice. It’s time consuming. So, if you have worker bees or bodies to delegate some of the tasks to, it can go a little smoother,” Lucas said.
The girls have been brainstorming about other ways they could help the community and raise funds.
“Maybe there is an organization that just doesn’t have the manpower or the time to get everything on their to-do list done. If they need help with something simple, we’d be willing to come in and get it done. I would say the sky’s the limit, but the limit is, it has to be within our talent scope,” Lucas said.
Sayler Holsinger and Shultz said the funds raised will help cover the cost for them to go to camp, uniforms or purchase poms and shoes if they need them.
“They have to have a plethora of items that are pretty expensive: jazz shoes, tennis shoes, several different tops and bottoms not only that they wear for performances but also on game days they have a uniform they wear to school,” Lucas said. “I know tennis shoes is top priority on my list because I had gotten them some shoes that were just makeshift. They were very inexpensive and they served their purpose to help us match, but they are not comfortable and they are leaving black scuff marks all over the school, so definitely we need to get some better, more supportive shoes purchased.”
There are other essentials like keeping a first aid box stocked and a box of other essential items like safety pins in case of a uniform malfunction, bobby pins, hairspray and other such items.
The funds are needed to help the team, but there is more to the fundraising process for the Dustkickers.
“It is an opportunity for us to raise funds, but in my mind from a teacher and parent role, the biggest box it checks for me is the community involvement role, helping these girls to know what type of a role model they can be to our younger generations,” Lucas said.
To schedule the Dustkickers to help with your event, contact Kyle Lucas at PHS (620) 421-3660 or by email at [email protected].
