Clanton Elementary School is hoping those in the community will turn out to give “bids for kids,” as the school will be hosting its inaugural Auction for Academics on March 5.

One of the main reasons for hosting the auction is to assist the first grade teachers to afford necessary educational materials for the students.

“It’s our first year to do it,” said Kimiera Locke, first grade teacher and one of several teachers organizing the event. “We were doing a pageant, (and) we opted out of the pageant and are going to try this instead.”

The event, put on by the first grade teachers at CES, will serve as a fundraiser for the grade, Locke said.

“(It helps) just to replenish even math supplies,” Jennifer Owen, a first grade teacher, said. “When AMSTI (Alabama Math Science and Technology Initiative) gives us a kit, if something gets lost or misplaced or torn up out of it, it doesn’t get replaced unless we raise the funds to replace it.”

Locke said her students’ lessons call for the use of materials that eventually need to be replaced.

“We use a lot of dice, counters, things like that,” Locke said. “We do a lot of activities with food. I use a lot of consumables, with paint and markers, dry erase markers, and colored pencils.”

The event will start at 6 p.m. with a silent auction, which will run until 6:45 p.m. 
After a brief singing from the students, the live auction will run from 7-8 p.m., with Chilton County School Superintendent Tommy Glasscock serving as auctioneer.

Items up for auction include specialized gift baskets, a bicycle, a signed football from the Maplesville state championship team, a three-month membership to Cornerstone Fitness and Wellness, a gift certificate to the Original Oyster House in Gulf Shores among others, Locke said. Silent auction items include artwork from the first grade classes.

Locke also said that while the auction served to help the 13 first grade teachers at CES, all of Chilton County was encouraged to come.

“We have some really good things,” she said. “It’s not limited to just (students’) parents. Anyone cane come. We have items from Maplesville, Jemison, Thorsby and lots from Clanton.”

For more information, contact the school at 280-2730 or visit the auction’s Facebook page at Facebook.com/AuctionforAcademics.