Box Tops for Education

Chris :

\When I was allowed to do the grade level contests 

#0.  ;)  First I would ask for a volunteer teacher to be the one to collect their grade's "label" and bring them to te office Fridat AM so I could pick them up in the afternoon.  I collected EVERYTHING we collect and made it count ... not just the box tops .

#1.  I ran them for a month . 

#2.  I counted , cut etc. myself .  I am sort of annal that way ; I do not want to send in any expired ones and I want to make sure there are 50 in each bundle .  I have read here that some of the coordinators let the classes count like the younger ones for the counting practice. Counting can be a nightmare if you let it ... but I found that I would divide it up during the weekend , doing one grade level at a time .  I would (and still do but now only the whole school) keep track of the totals in a notebook .

#3.  I used to use no-money prizes like free hat day , whacky hair day , PJ day ettc. for the whole grade level that brought in the most .

#4.  At the time I was almost ALWAYS at school so every chance I got I would talk about who was ahead . Now , though , if I was able to still do it I would add a brightly colored poster to "my corner" of the hallway so that everyone could see who was ahead and just how many "labels" were sent in by grade. 

#5.  We (the PTA) last year proved that by NOT doing any kind of contest our collectioms were down ... and came up with an idea ... we own a popcorn machine so twice a year (Oct. & Feb. , box top ceadline monts) we run a two week contest by telling the kids if they bring in 20,000 labels by such and such a date they will get popcorn on such and such date the next month . What most people do not know is that the kids WILL get it anyways as the popcorn day is school pride day !!  Sneaky now ain't we !

You just need to figure out what works best for you . There really is no wrong or right way to do any of this .  We have ALL been there done that and those of us who have been here for awhils now have found our "groove" .  Just make it fun for you and your kids and you will do GREAT .  

Hope this helps .

Debi

Hi Chris   We are adding the 5th grade  to our NEW SCHOOL next year. There is space for a large Bulletin Board just for our Boxtops.   I have a small Bulletin Board I'm working with now 2'x 2'.  It is looking busy.  

Hi, Chris. I'm a 3-year coordinator, and I'd like to add in my 2 cents.  I answered your questions in blue below. Hope it helps!  Good Luck! 

Gheri

chrisg20:

Hi,

 

I'm new here and am looking for some experiences you all have had with healthy competition between grades, of which grade collects the most box tops.

 

A few things I am wondering:

 

1. How long to make the competition? A month? A few months?

 I run mine for 4 weeks...usually in between months....like Nov to Dec, Jan to Feb, etc. But I also try to run a year-long event, wherein I keep track of the class that collected the most. I also run a 100Club...wherein a child who brings in 100 Box Tops collected from the start of the year is recognized with a small token..A pencil with a mini-banner on it with his/her name on it. I do this to recognize the consistent contributors. You'll find that you'll have a clump of students really work hard to help the school with the BT's. I feel it is worth the effort to recognize them for that.  And yes, I track each student using Microsoft Excel. I just enter them in as they come in, and equate a running total as the months go by.

 

2. Who is responsible for counting the box tops? Kids in the grade and make it a learning experience in counting? or the coordinator?

If you want reliability, I suggest you do it yourself, or if you have a team of volunteers to help you out, then give them a batch. I do everything myself, (bec. I still can). I see BT's as money...and I treat it as cash. So, I would handle them with the greatest care and accountability.  You'll find that some BT's submitted are expired, too. I make it a point to educate everyone that expired BTs don't count, for we don't get credit for them. I use collection sheets. BTFE has downloadable ones, but I crafted out my own using a graphics software. I use a 1/2 sheet of paper, and each sheet is completed with 10 BTs. Makes it easier for counting, spotting expired BTs, and organizing them for submission time.

3. How many prizes are awarded? Top 2 grades? What types of prizes?

I do top 2 to 3 grades.  If it's a class competition, I let the winning class dip into the BT Prize Box...filled with donated items. Our local Walmart and Target have been very generous in giving us $25 from time to time. I use that to purchase clearance goodie bag items to fill the box. Some parents are very generous, too, in giving me their leftover goodie bag stuff. 

This month, I am running Boxtopoly, and the top 2 classes will have a "snowball fight."  It will be run during gym class, complete with protective gear, and rolled up socks as snowballs. My first year to do this kind of prize, so I hope it works out well. 

 

4. How are results reported so it motivates the classes to collect more? A board outside of the main office showing how many per classroom have already been collected? I feel like this is a good idea, but can be a counting nightmare for the coordinator needing to do the counting every week.

A bulletin board is the best way. Our principal is very supportive, and has helped me in getting prime spot. I have a corner bulletin board that is adjacent to the cafeteria entrance. EVERY kid sees my bulletin board...and that is enough to get them all excited.  I also craft out a flier, and I get a spot in the PTA Monthly Newsletter.

 The counting can be tedious, but if you collect weekly, and log in your info on your excel sheet, it isn't too bad. You'll eventually find a "system" that will work for you.  I've done ice scream scoops tower, snowman tower, etc. to give it that rising thermometer effect.  I save my posters every year so I don't have to make a new one the following year. I cover my poster boards with Contact Paper so it lasts longer. Then I tack it on the board. 

I won't kid you...it's a labor of love. It took me a whole year to figure out a system. I tweaked my collection sheets 5 times before I finally got it to a point wherein I don't have to do anything to make changes. I use my own graphics software, Printmaster, to do all my fliers and switch them to PDF format for printing. The PTO website has some really good info on BT ideas...and also collection sheets in Word format. You can check those out, too. 

If you'd like to see our sheet, visit our school page at wwwDOTroxburyDOTorg and go to Franklin School, then to PTA. From there, scroll down to forms, or Box Tops section. You can also click on the PTA newsletters and see the BT blurbs I put in every month to get an idea or two. Hope this helps! 

 

Any other tips will be appreciated!

 

Thanks!

 

Chris

I have been a coordinator for the last 3 years and have searched these fourms for any ideas I could find.  All the 'contest' I use came from other coordinators here and I have just tweeted them to fit our needs.  By the way we are a K - 4 school with around 500 students.

1. How long to make the competition? A month? A few months?

Our main one last all year:

We first do an goal based system.  I have the back wall of our cafeteria as my 'bulletin board'.  This years theme is "Dive into Box Tops".  I printed out a fish for each teacher in our school.  I also printed out bubbles with numbers 100, 200, 300, etc, all the way up to 3000 (Our last goal).  Teachers also receive a reward.  My goals are the following:

500 BT = a bookmark for everyone in the class (purchased ones that say Dive into a good book which goes with our theme).  Teacher gets a sonic drink.

1000 BT = class gets a popcorn party (we purchased a popcorn machine the first year I was cordinator so there is really list cost in this reward).  Teacher gets a sonic drink and their favorite candy.

1500 BT = class receives popsicles (we do Ice-Pops which is about $4 for 100) Teacher gets a sonic drink, their favorite candy, and a school supply (glue sticks, post-its, etc)

2000 BT = class receives ice cream (ice cream sandwiches keeps it simple) Teacher gets a $5 gift card to our local yogurt shop.

3000 BT = class receives a pizza party.  Teacher gets lunch brought in to her.

Last year we had 2 classes bring in 3000 BT each.  In fact last year was our first year to do this and I only had goals up to 2000 BT and in the middle of the year I had to add the 3000 BT goal because we already had one class at the end of my goal board  

The students seem to really get into this because it's a group effort and no one gets frustrated because they can't bring in the most.  They still try to help their class win.

I have also done contest during the year long goal theme just to keep kids interested.  One contest they LOVE is grade vs grade.  However, it includes all cash for trash items.  Box Tops in your grades box is a positive point and coke rewards, campbells soup labels, or tyson labels are a negative point.  The kids love the idea of sabotaging the other grades.  One day 1st grade could be in the lead and then 2nd grade puts a ton of coke rewards in 1st grades box and they are dead last.  It's amazing how much they get involved in it.  We usually run this contest March - May.  This gets us setup for a good December check before the new school year even starts.

We are currently running a new contest - any classes that reach a new goal (in our year long goal system above) will have the whole classes names entered into a drawing for some gift cards to various restuarants in our area.  Don't know how it will motivate yet but this again includes the whole class not just those who bring in the most.  Contest will run Jan - Feb.

2. Who is responsible for counting the box tops? Kids in the grade and make it a learning experience in counting? or the coordinator?

I count everything myself.  I usually collect every Friday and count over the weekend.  

3. How many prizes are awarded? Top 2 grades? What types of prizes?

For our goal system I reward once per month.  I take the classes count as of the last Friday of the month and reward those that have met a new goal on the first Friday of the next month.  

Our grade vs grade contest - grade wins popsicles.  (Also have done boys vs girls contest - winner gets a crazy hair day)

Our current contest will be a drawing for 6 $5 gift cards to places like sonic, yogurt shop, walmart, etc.

4. How are results reported so it motivates the classes to collect more? A board outside of the main office showing how many per classroom have already been collected? I feel like this is a good idea, but can be a counting nightmare for the coordinator needing to do the counting every week.

The fish in the back of the cafeteria have the teachers name and every Monday I updated with the total box tops collected for that class.  At the end of each hallway (we have 4) I made posters with the teachers names in that hallway with a place for BT totals.  I update those each Monday. 

When we have special contest like grade vs grade.  I have a box for each grade in the lobby of our school.  I print of grade totals and place them on top of the boxes each Monday.

I definitely put in a lot of time but it has really paid off for us.  The year before I because BT coordinator we collected maybe $500.  Then each year it got better but when I started the year long goal system we went from $1,900 to almost $3,400!!  Our goal is $4,000 this year!

Hope this helps.  Your welcome to email me at thejonesfamily at classicnet dot net

Any other tips will be appreciated!

Thanks!

Chris

[/quote]