Dylan Hughes– Whenever you buy spirit wear outside of the cafeteria, or get something to eat or drink at any sporting event, you are actually helping the school out, raising money to purchase things that just don’t make the budget.

FHS, like every other school, has a certain budget to buy books, supplies, and everything else provided for you to use in the classrooms. For specific supplies, like calculators all math teachers needed costing over $1,000, funds raised by the PTO are used to purchase such items.

“The PTO is basically a Parent Teacher Organization that helps raise and distribute funds back to the school by doing fundraising events and supplying needs for things that the principal deems necessary or that clubs come to and request funds for. Another thing that we do is just community outreach. We kinda do things to raise money, but we also just do things for fun and provide back to the school,” PTO president Chelle Lancaster said.

While fundraisers alone help the school out, most of the help is from spirit wear sales.

“Most of our funds come from spirit wear sales. When you have the ‘Back to School’ night, or the registration, or there’s a time at the football game where they’re selling clothes, most of those extra funds get allocated back to the school,” Lancaster said.

Other projects the PTO have going on behind the scenes are events such as ‘Celebration of Giving’, where they will seek out needy students that may not get Christmas gifts through the guidance counselors and supply them with the necessities for the holiday season, along with the Fashion Show in February to help raise money for Riley Children’s Hospital.

If you want to help show your school spirit, go buy some spirit wear outside of the cafeteria on Thursdays and Fridays. Also, keep an eye on the school website for updates on upcoming PTO fundraisers.