art from the heart

friday night was explorer elementary's art from the heart event.
this is THE biggest fundraiser of the year for the school and one not to be missed!

this year, the event was held at the bahia hotel with dancing/drinks/food,
and was packed with parents and teachers from the school.
the (silent) auction tables were packed with contributions from businesses all over san diego,
as well as from generous explorer parents. the walls were also lined with pieces of art for the
live aution where art pieces created by each classroom of explorer were auctioned off.
a typical piece will go anywhere from $1,000 to upwards of $3,000. 

this year, the parent's of room 3 (finn's classroom) went in together to bid on the class art piece.
we figured this was a great way to make money for the school, without having one parent take
on a huge financial burden. as for the lucky recipient, it was unanimous - i twould go to their teacher.

the art piece was a white wood window with short poems the students had written transferred onto it.
(i'm not sure how this was done - i need to ask the parent who led this effort)
along with the window was a hardcover leather photo album with professional photos
of each child in the class. the photo album was gorgeous!! 

so how much did room 3's wooden window and photo album go for you might ask?
$1,600 was what our class collected. *woo hoo*
this bidding for piece was all discussed an decided on the day before.  

a genuine auctioneer was hired to entertain and encourage the bidding which made it even
better than last year's event. i think the highest bid of the evening was for (2) parking spaces
at the school - each went for $5,000.

i have to mention that my sweet hubby gave up those two parking spots that
belonged the the facilities department.  parking at the school is tough, but he never
imagined they would be bid that high. it was SO exciting to watch.

before the live auction began, the director of the school, thanked the parents for
coming out and gave a heartfelt speech about her love for explorer. she never had
children of her own, and it's clear to all her heart and soul go into explorer.

she closed with a quote from david brookes of npr -
     "the reality of education is that people learn from people they love".

i left the extremely thankful i was able to participate in the event, and
thankful finn attends a school full of people he loves, and people who love him.

~ if i can get a photo of the room 3's art piece i will post here.
i unfortunately didn't bring my camera.  i was off-duty this night from photo duty
so i could simply socialize and enjoy the evening.