FHS Education Foundation begins fundraiser to leave on school
Farragut High School Education Foundation has joined forces with the school’s technology committee to raise money for technology and give supporters a chance to make a permanent mark in the school.
Foundation members are selling personalized tiles, which will then be placed on a wall in the school, Thomas Deakins, foundation vice president, said.
The tiles will be installed this summer.
“They would be like bricks with your name on them, and your bricks were there forever, really,” Deakins said. “We’ve had a lot of interest from alumni and classes.”
Deakins said he came up with the idea while thinking about how a person could leave his or her mark on the school in the right way.
He walked into the school and started looking at the stairwell and surrounding walls.
“I just all of a sudden came up with the tile idea, “ Deakins said. “I found a company, oddly called Bricks Are Us but they actually sell these tiles and you can get a tile that’s engraved.”
He said supporters can put their name and logo on the tiles, and all the money raised specifically benefits the school for technology purposes. The tiles can be purchased online through the school’s website.
There are various levels of tiles. For example, the Anchor Club level is an 8-by-8 tile and there are 12-by-12 tiles based on the rank of an admiral. Deakins said the tiles can range from $300 to $7,500.
“If you want to have an array, you can have four of these tiles put together so you would have a 24-by-24 set of tiles, and you could have a corporate logo put on that. You could have a family crest. You could have whatever you want on that array and that’s $10,000, he said. “But, this is for the community, this is for alumni, this is for businesses in order for them to put their mark on Farragut and show their support.
“It’s a great way to do something in memory of someone or in honor of someone,” Deakins said.
Mary Lin, FHS technology committee chairwoman and teacher has been challenged with putting together a plan so technology can be used for every student and every department.
“We will evaluate each department based their needs as to what device it will need,” she said.
The technology committee started raising funds for technology when members realized the lack of technology at Farragut High School, LIn said.
“Our goal is to raise $1 million through the purchase of these tiles,” Deakins said. “Then we have our replacement fund. We came up with the idea to sell a 4-by-6 tile to the senior class for $100 each.”
The Class of 2016 will be the first class allowed to buy a tile. A 4-by-6 that will have a student’s name, Class of 2016 and a custom logo.
“We hope every senior will have a tile,” he said. “Ten years from now we will have 4,000 tiles just from the seniors. They will be able to come back and see their names.
Lin said the good thing about the tiles fundraiser is anyone can participate at anytime.
Saturday, Feb. 13, the committee held a Technology Gala in Knoxville to raise funding for computers and other equipment, but that was just one event, she said.
