The impact of booster clubs and fundraisers at Casteel High School
March 28, 2022 by Grant Leveque, Arizona State University
Twenty-twenty-one 5A boys’ volleyball state champions, 2021 5A girls’ soccer state champions, back-to-back boys’ soccer state champions, and back-to-back wrestling state champions with a 5-year record of 109-17, the Colts have earned themselves a strong title to hold up and be proud of.
With all the accolades to show for it, Casteel has made it clear that it has a wide variety of great athletics and with the support behind them through fundraising programs and the school’s booster club, the Colts can continue to strive for greatness.
At most high schools there is some sort of funding program or booster club that supports the school’s clubs, departments, and athletics when money is needed and this is sometimes crucial to how a school functions.
A website supporting funding for teachers and projects all over the nation by the name of Donors Choose has noticeably helped multiple teachers all over Casteel’s campus.
Eighteen total projects including eight technological projects and a total of 14 teacher projects were successfully funded by 122 donors who donated.
A total of $34,769 has been poured into Casteel’s numerous projects, such as a project that was funded for an engineering class at Casteel looking for new 3D printers.
“My students are very excited about using the equipment to build their projects,” Mrs. Sylvia Grace, an engineering teacher at Casteel said. “These are our future engineering in training and will make positive impacts on our society in the near future.”
The varsity football team at Casteel arguably raised the most money for their program due to the website, Casteel Touchdown Club, which has raised a total of $23,607 within the time of the program's start.
Along with this is the discount cards that the athletics sell to raise a small amount of money for the students to get new or better equipment, field repairs, weight room improvements, and even some exclusive school sports merchandise.
Another tactic that most high schools use is partnering with a food chain and receiving a percentage of the earnings (usually 33%) and all the consumer has to do is on the day of the event, mention the high school at the checkout and the school will receive its part of the donation.
Casteel’s girls’ soccer partners with Chipotle all throughout the season to help support the team and use the earnings for new equipment, field repair, and whatever else they may need.
Casteel has also shown its appreciation for sports such as tennis, allowing them to create their own booster program as a team to help with new scorecards and balls throughout the season.
“Our school is very supportive of tennis,” Casteel’s varsity head coach Angelo Pugnetti exclaimed. “Five5 years ago I founded the Chandler School district’s junior. high tennis program and the school helped to provide whatever we needed for it.”
The tennis teams at Casteel have to currently play at Gilbert Regional Park as their home court for around $10,000.
Helping with this is the district's move to build a 4 million dollar facility holding 8 tennis courts, a new locker room, and another concession stands to be used at tennis and sand volleyball home tournaments.
Without a doubt, the care and attitude Casteel put toward building the athletics and clubs through websites like Donors Choose and Casteel Touchdown Club, along with the successful fundraising events that the Colt's athletics do year in and year out has proven to help them and will continue to help pave the future of Casteel as an evolving school in Arizona.