McSurprise: McTeacher nights for North, South elementaries

Sidney’s North and South Elementary Schools ended the year 2012 with a pleasant surprise. The surprise however wasn’t from Santa Clause it was from McDonalds.

On Nov. 14 this year McDonalds partnered up with the schools for their second year hosting McTeacher Nights.

McTeacher Night is a fundraiser for the schools put on by McDonalds, school booster club members and school staff where a percentage of the night’s proceeds at McDonalds is donated to the elementary schools.

Nikki Juengst, booster club president for the two schools that include children in kindergarten through third grade, said that their McTeacher Night this fall was a huge success.

Juengst said that in November she found out that the fundraiser had made one of the top three sales in the region on that night, automatically giving the schools an extra donation of $1,000.

“That was the first time we made the top three and now that is our goal again for next time,” Juengst said.

Though Jeff Valentine, the McDonalds store manager said that the McDonalds franchise has been holding these events for many years it was not until a couple years ago when he approached the schools that North and South Elementary got involved.

“This is our way of helping give back to our community and supporting teachers,” Valentine said.

How McTeacher Night works is teachers at the schools sign up prior to the event for different shifts. Their jobs include different tasks such as opening doors, carrying food trays out to customers, cleaning up and selling food items, Juengst said.

“We try to get as many teachers involved as possible,” Juengst said.

Though McDonalds staff still does all the cooking at the event the rest of the participation is a school and community effort, she said.

“The teachers are mostly here on those nights for moral support and the kids come in to see them,” Valentine said. “McDonalds is a kid place and the kids love to come in and be able to eat dinner and see their teachers at the same time, all at the same place.”

This year Juengst said she believes a lot more attention was drawn towards the event and that many community members turned out in support.

“There were a lot of people that came in and asked what was going on. There were people waiting, lined up all the way to the door,” Juengst said.

“We actually run out of space in here,” Valentine said.

Juengst said that the event was packed during its hours between 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. and that Sidney community members really step up every year and make an impact.

Even community members that use to have children in school that now graduated come and buy McDonalds, she said.

“It’s an easy way to give money to the school if you already don’t donate, Juengst said. “You can come and you can eat knowing that from the cost of your meal that night a percentage is going to be donated back to the schools.”

Juengst said that it is rather difficult to find a fundraiser that the younger school children can participate in and that McTeacher Nights serve as a way for those schools to generate money.

“They sell pizzas at another school, but we can’t really do that,” Juengst said. “The kids are too little and you don’t really want them going door-to-door. So this is a great way just for the families to get involved and the kids love it.”

The school children also participate in the event by coloring McDonalds pictures that are hung up around the store.

“That’s part of the reason why the kids come because they want to show their artwork,” Juengst said.

The booster club president said that the school principal Brent Jeffers already has a plan of what to do with the donated money.

“When I approached him with the donation he said, ‘Hold on to that because I have the perfect project,’” she said.

Juengst said that the principal plans to re-sand or gravel both school’s play areas with the money.

Juengst said that usually the event takes place in the spring, but this year when they tried a fall McTeacher Night in Novemeber they had a great turnout, prompting the idea of having two McTeacher Nights a year.

Both Juengst and Valentine said that they hope that McTeacher Night will continue to be a community effort for years to come – after all as Juengst said, “Who doesn’t like McDonalds?”

“It’s great for the schools and the community and is something we would like to see in the future. We are very thankful to McDonalds,” Juengst said.

“We’re very thankful to the community that helps support it; without them it wouldn’t be a success,” Valentine said.