ATLANTIC CITY -- The life-size scarecrows welcoming visitors to the Folsom school were an eye-catching addition to the school's Halloween celebration.
But they were there for more than just decoration. The school auctioned the student-made creations Friday, with part of the proceeds going to help support the school's new positive-behavior program.
"Parents are excited and really on board with this," said fifth-grade teacher Megan Scheer, whose class created a Phillie Phanatic scarecrow. "We just need the money to keep it going."
Most of the scarecrows were sold during the school's Halloween parade and party Friday afternoon, raising $430.
"It gives us the resources to get things for the students," said Superintendent Robert Garguilo, whose wife paid $35 for the scarecrow of the surfing school administrator.
Fundraising in schools is not new. Parent groups, the band and clubs have traditionally raised money to help pay for extras in the schools.
But with a loss of almost $900 million in state aide and budget cuts eating away at academic and extracurricular programs this year, educators are getting more creative in looking for ways to fund projects they see as important to student education.
Last week at the William Davies Middle School in Hamilton Township, about 40 people paid $10 each for a one-hour Zumba workout so music students at the school can travel to festivals.
"It's great for students to get the chance to perform," music teacher Donna Berchtold said. "But we need to raise the money for the transportation to take them there."
Berchtold admits she got the idea when she heard about a Zumba class to raise money for the dance program at Absegami High School. Instructor Nancy Messinger agreed to teach the dance-exercise class for a small fee so most of the money would go to the students.
Berchtold scheduled the event for the same night as community band practice, hoping parents dropping off their children would stay and have some fun.
Ellen Gregory, director of development for the Egg Harbor Township school district, has been helping teachers find and apply for a variety of grants.
"We're doing a lot of small ones," she said, estimating they are successful about a third of the time. She has several applications in the works now.
John Jones, a teacher at the Alder Avenue Middle School, wants to develop a Community Teaching Garden using grants from State Farm, the National Gardening Association and Home Depot. And Linda Brennan Smith, a reading specialist at the school, needs $3,062 to bring back the Accelerated Reader program.
Meanwhile, Tom Weber, the EHT High School Performing Arts supervisor, wants to find funds to continue the percussion workshop at the Miller Elementary School. And Gregory is helping by applying to the Borgata Heart and Soul Foundation and the Ocean City Home Bank Foundation.
"You try not to make the requests too big, and you try not to hit the same organizations more than once a year," she said.
The cost of transportation for field trips and events has become a such a problem that the South Jersey Cultural Alliance distributes several thousand dollars it receives from the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation and the Horizon Foundation for New Jersey to subsidize transportation costs to alliance events.
Caz Boyd, arts education manager for the alliance, said most applications start arriving in January when teachers plan their field trips, but they have already received five this year. Some can be as small as $75, and they average about $200.
"I have seen cases where even $100 can make all the difference in whether a school can take a trip," she said.
The alliance focuses on underserved and low-income districts, but any school can apply through the member group when they book a trip. Participating alliance members include the Bay-Atlantic Symphony, Wheaton Village, Noyes Museum, Cold Spring Village and the Wetlands Institute.
Some groups are finding ways to both raise money and help their communities.
At Vineland High School, the Russian Club put paper recycling boxes in each classroom. They pick them up weekly and dump them into a special receptacle from Giordano's Recycling.
Teacher Jeff Munsick started the project with the Japanese Club, raising about $1,000 last year for field trips. That club has disbanded, but the Russian Club took it over this year.
"It's really not a bad thing to have them do something to earn the money," Munsick said. "It teaches them to be willing to work for something they want."