Plant Sale

Plant Sale

Madeline Pass and Sylvia Barnes

     As the only required event for 9th graders besides the mandatory bingo-tag fusion class party, the 9th-grade plant sale is an important rite-of-passage for Burroughs high schoolers. This year, the 9th graders sold 135 plants. At $13 per plant, this generated $1755. The actual cost of purchasing the plants from the nursery was $1,125. We’ll do the subtraction: that leaves $630 to put towards prom. This number represents about half of the class of 2023’s total savings.

     Here are the numbers raised from the plant sale 1n’ past years: The class of 2020 (seniors) raised $642; the class of 2021 raised $387, and the class of 2022 raised $172. The freshman plant sale is a great idea for a fundraiser, but if the class of 2023 wants to spread out fundraising in order to minimize stress, the profits from the plant sale would need to be much higher or they would need to have an additional fundraiser.

     According to Lola Fernandez (‘20), the recommended amount of money to raise for an “actually good” prom is at least $8,000 (not including $2000 for the senior graduation dinner). Since this year’s freshman class only raised $630 through the plant sale, they are not at all near their total prom fundraising goal. If the goal for prom funding was $10,000, then each year (starting in 8th grade) should raise around $2,000. The freshmen would need to sell at least three times as many plants for this amount to be achieved.

     Two promising ideas proposed this year for additional 9th grade fundraisers include a Potpourri-style lunch and a bingo night with an admission fee for Burroughs grandparents, with the proceeds all going to the prom savings. But as Joe Baur (9th grade Vice President) put it, “We aren’t actually planning anything.”

     The class of 2023 will take the wise advice offered by current junior Eleanor Hohenberg: “Start working on [fundraising] during sophomore year at least and put in requests for bake sales earlier than you think you need to.”