CAZENOVIA — The Cazenovia High School Parent Teacher Student Association (PTSA) is kicking off the holiday season with a fundraiser sale that will run through Dec. 7.
The organization is selling custom-made Cazenovia-themed items — some of which can be personalized — through its online store, cazhs.memberhub.com/store.
The PTSA has partnered with Kelly McCrink, a parent and Cazenovia business owner, to create giftable items like glasses etched with “Cazenovia,” dish towels with an image of Cazenovia High School and “Class of 2023,” ornaments with the Caz Lakers logo, knit hats and oversized throw blankets with “CAZ” leather patches, and pillows personalized with GPS coordinates and family names.
The PTSA plans to set up a display table for people to view the available products at the Dec. 2 Winter Walk (Christmas Walk & Tree Lighting). Members will be selling two additional products at the event that can be purchased and taken home that evening. One is an ornament etched with the message “There’s no place like Cazenovia for the holidays,” and the other is a red tumbler with the same Cazenovia message etched into it.
Displays will also be set up at various school events for faculty and staff to view the products.
All orders must be placed by Dec. 7 to allow enough time to get the items out to customers before the holiday.
“We are really excited about this fundraiser,” said PTSA President Kathleen Benedict. “It’s our first time doing something like this. . . Kelly is very talented and very generous.”
According to Benedict, the PTSA has partnered with McCrink before. Last school year, she made a gift that the PTSA presented to all teachers for Teacher Appreciation in May.
McCrink has children in the Cazenovia High School Classes of 2017, 2019, 2024, and 2028.
“We believe a top-notch school system and our supportive community is helping our children be successful,” said McCrink. “. . . I love to help in the community, kids’ schools, and sports teams/clubs. Due to being extremely busy running a business full-time, I don’t have the ability to volunteer my time to help at events and such. I realized that I could create some one-of-a-kind items from my local personalization shop that parents would enjoy buying for gifts and themselves with a larger percentage of the sales going directly to the school compared to what most fundraisers end up earning an organization. I think as parents we get bored with the same fundraisers if [we] have multiple kids doing them year after year. My hope is that the sale will raise plenty of funds so we can shower Cazenovia’s amazing students and faculty with events, activities, and whatever else the PTSA may need.”
McCrink said the idea for the holiday sale grew from a 2021 fundraiser that helped support improvements to the Burton Street Rink.
“I snapped a picture of the Cazenovia Varsity Hockey team practicing [and] then made a pillow for the rink manager, Mark Costello,” said McCrink. “Once the parents saw it, they wanted one, which got me thinking, and just like that money was able to be raised for repairs and updates.”
The holiday fundraiser will support PTSA programs, which support all aspects of the high school (grades 8-12) community.
Cazenovia Central School District is a member of the National Parent Teacher Association (PTA), the oldest and largest child advocacy association in America.
According to the district website, the mission of Cazenovia’s elementary, middle, and high school PTA programs is “to support and speak on behalf of children and youth in schools, to assist parents in developing skills they need to raise and protect their children, and to encourage parent and public involvement in the public schools.”
“With the funds raised, we can fund our scholarship and sponsorships, teacher appreciation events, and bring in guest speakers for students and families,” said Benedict. “We also have a few student engagement activities planned for the year too, like a badminton tournament, contests for the holidays, and a game night in the spring. . . Everything that the Cazenovia HS PTSA does is intended to support the high school and make [it] a positive and enriching environment for all members. The PTSA is made up of some very dedicated and busy volunteers. We are busy bringing activities to the high school throughout the year, but PTSA members also serve on a number of school and district-wide committees, putting the PTSA in the position to advocate for students, teachers, and families.”
For more information on the PTSA, visit the Parent-Teacher-Student Association page on the district website at cazenoviacsd.com and follow the organization on Facebook and Instagram at @cazhsptsa.
