Teachers Gear Up To Give Back

The “BTA Gives Back” initiative is designed to allow Babylon district teachers to expand opportunities to donate both time and money to the community. That's exactly what will happen tomorrow when employees, friends and family of the BTA participate in the second annual golf outing.

Funds are raised through sponsorships of individual holes on the course and through a raffle featuring donated prizes village shops and restaurants.

Last year’s inaugural golf outing was the first large-scale effort and raised over $3,000.  Over $1,700 was donated to the United Methodist Church to help fund their food pantry charity and, in addition, several members of the BTA volunteered to serve.

The additional funds were used to purchase an AED machine, which stands for Automated External Defibrillator, which was donated back to the Babylon School District to fill a need for one more of the expensive, but life-saving, devices.

This year, the BTA will donate proceeds to the Babylon Village Youth Project, where many Babylon students spend time after school.  In addition, a portion of the proceeds will be used to purchase a piece of instructional technology to be donated back to the district for student classrooms.

This past fall, the “BTA Gives Back” initiative sent numerous teachers to Homecoming Weekend to actively participate in the events.  Rather than just watching the game, teachers volunteered time to sit in a dunk tank to help raise money and to interact with the students and parents outside of the normal classroom setting. 

Rob Richardelli, BTA president, says, “The initiative has been a win-win for everyone involved.  The fundraising events have been great fun, and the teachers have long sought ways to build closer relationships within the community.  The Golf Outing brings together teachers, administration, parents and friends of the Babylon Schools to helps build a stronger Babylon Family within the District.  I am very excited that we are doing it again this year.”