Thoughts on Our Recent School Fair:

What Worked and What Needs Improvement

What Worked

• Our numbers were strong. Eighty-two children attended along with their families.
• Having bags for each child worked well. There was a lot of stuff to cart home!
  
• The food was excellent! Kudos to Kelly for providing healthy foods presented in a fun way. Kids WILL eat fruits and veggies. The Finney County Extension Office's booth on hidden sugar and fat in "ordinary" foods was excellent.
• The school supplies went over well. Our count indicated that 111 elementary students in grades K-6 took advantage of our kits. About 60% were given away while 40% were purchased at cost. Having a table at enrollment was very helpful! Did we over order? Perhaps, but unclaimed kits went to the elementary school to supply students who enrolled late and to replenish supplies that run low.
• Twenty-one children received dental screenings courtesy of the Koehns. Tons of toothpaste, toothbrushes, and floss were given away. 
• The car seat safety booth that was provided by Haskell County Health was great. 
• The Gideons reported giving away 97 New Testaments.
• The book fair ensured that every child would go home with at least one new book. Books that remained at the end of the fair were given to USD 507 for use in classrooms and in our building libraries. 
• It was great to have Russell Child Development on hand along with Learn and Play. 
• The table advertising the work of the Satanta United Methodist Church was very successful. 
• Jose's personal hygiene table was very good.
• The haircut coupons seemed to have gone well, but we'll need to see how many come back via Vanity so that we can gauge the success of this element of our project.
• The grant from the KLC, our garage sale proceeds, and support from our congregation meant that funding was not an issue. 
• Our celebratory pool party for those who helped at the fair went well. We strengthened our connections as a group.

What Needs Improvement

• Our signage could have been better. We should have created a map of the event that could be handed to each guest at the door. 
• We should have found greeters to help "direct traffic."
• We should have had all those present sign in so that we could generate more accurate attendance numbers.
• We should have found a Spanish-English translator in addition to Jose. 
• Our used clothing was successful, but it was unclear to our guests that these items were to be given away at no charge. Once again, signage could have alleviated this confusion. 
• We need to develop the roles of the organizations we invited. Haskell County Health, for instance, might be asked to take on a larger role next year by assisting with HealthWave forms and NeedyMed registrations.
• Too few families took advantage of our offer for a free 8 x 10 photo from Studio 113. Less than 20 photos were taken. It may been unclear that these photos were free, and some families did not come prepared for a family photo. 
• Very few, if any, members of our German-Mennonite community were present. Our advertising focused on our Spanish-speaking community but not our Mennonite neighbors. 
• Our outside games might have been better if they weren't across the street. They worked well but were disconnected from the rest of the event.
• We did little to help students at the junior high and high school level. If funds remain once bills are paid, we need to explore ways to serve ALL our students.