In past years, the North Carolina Holiday Flotilla has been buoyed by the financial support of a title sponsor. After spending many months searching for such a sponsor, the flotilla committee partnered with local company CastleBranch to introduce a new charity element to the title sponsorship, the details of which were revealed at CastleBranch on Nov. 24.
Michelle Kiesecker, CastleBranch vice president of client solutions, and Pres Davenport, flotilla committee chairman, announced CastleBranch, PPD and McGladrey combined efforts to raise $10,000, with $4,000 sponsoring the flotilla and the other $6,000 going to the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education program at D.C. Virgo Preparatory Academy.
During the search for major sponsors, the flotilla committee encountered reluctance from businesses not wanting to simply give money to what might be perceived as a holiday party. Kiesecker said CastleBranch reached out to the committee to suggest the charity element and then helped recruit PPD and McGladrey as co-sponsors.
The sponsorship announcement took place in the CastleBranch parking lot so employees could unveil the boat they decorated with a Peter Pan theme for the flotilla boat parade. They hope to win the People’s Choice award, which is determined by which boat receives the most text message votes from spectators. Kiesecker said if they win they will donate the $1,500 prize money to D.C. Virgo.
Leaders at CastleBranch chose D.C. Virgo as the beneficiary of the sponsorship partly because D.C. Virgo is federally designated a Title I school, meaning it serves a large low-income student population. Principal Eric Irizarry said the money would allow the school to purchase technology the children would not otherwise have access to.
The performance composite for end-of-grade tests and end-of-course assessments for D.C. Virgo was 25.2. Located on the north side, Virgo’s composite was the lowest of New Hanover County’s middle schools for the 2013-14 school year. Wrightsville Beach School earned a performance composite of 87.8 percent, second only to Walter L. Parsley at 90.8.
Irizarry said D.C. Virgo’s STEM program, called Project Lead the Way, is a new curriculum addition to add science, technology, engineering and math to the school’s strong arts program.
“That’s the piece that we’re missing,” he said.
Irizarry said the school’s old wood shop will be transformed into the STEM lab, where sixth, seventh and eighth grade students can learn basic computer programming and robotics skills. The school will use the $6,000 to purchase support technology, robotics kits and potentially even a three-dimensional printer, he added.
Kiesecker said the new charity sponsorship might be a lasting addition to the North Carolina Holiday Flotilla.
“We raised $10,000 this year,” she said, “so hopefully we can do $20,000 next year.”
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