NORTH PLATTE – The North Platte Catholic Schools Endowment is kicking off a new capital campaign with an all-school pep rally at 2:45 pm on Friday, April 4th at McDaid Elementary.
The goal is to encourage the entire community to get in the spirit of giving, in support of education. The event will serve as the official public launch of the Founded on Excellence fundraising campaign. Endowment Director Wendy Dodson says that campaign planning got underway during the fall of 2024, with the initial phase of fundraising taking place in early 2025. Dodson says the April 4th pep rally will serve as the official kickoff and unveiling of campaign goals.
The primary goal of the Founded on Excellence campaign is to establish a dedicated fund to increase teacher salaries. Depending on results of the campaign, this fund will provide an additional $100,000 to $150,000 annually to the operating budget of the North Platte Catholic Schools for salary increases for teachers. The aim is to address both teacher retention and teacher recruitment.
Additional goals of the campaign are to complete a handful of much-needed capital improvements. These include updates to the boys’ locker room facilities and activities restrooms at St. Pat’s High School, and flooring and lighting in the common areas at McDaid Elementary.
Dodson says that the first milestone of the campaign has already been achieved, with pledges to-date exceeding $2.5 million dollars. The current campaign total and goals will be revealed at the pep rally April 4th. All kindergarten through 12th grade students will be a part of the kickoff event. Parents and community members are also invited to attend.
