When a school’s art fundraiser succeeds, the impact goes far beyond the numbers. Students and families benefit alongside the art program’s budget. At Ridgewood Elementary in Hilliard, Ohio, a first-year art teacher partnered with Art to Remember and achieved extraordinary results—more than tripling participation from 2024 into 2025. The right support, strong communication, and student excitement transformed their fundraiser into an even stronger tradition for the school. It’s truly an inspiration!
Background on Ridgewood Elementary
Ridgewood Elementary is a K–5 school located in Hilliard, Ohio, just outside of Columbus. Like many elementary schools, its art program depends heavily on fundraising to supplement a limited budget. Art to Remember has partnered with Ridgewood for years, but we were really blown away with how Grace Edgerton, a first-year art teacher at Ridgewood, transformed their school’s results in 2025.
The growth we’ve seen at Ridgewood is remarkable. In 2023, the fundraiser had approximately $3,100 in sales with 13% participation. The following year saw similar results. But with Grace’s first year, Ridgewood reached $13,460 in sales with 45% participation—an increase of more than 300%.
In reflecting on the experience, Grace said: “As a first-year art teacher at Ridgewood, I was nervous to do it all. I’m so glad I did, and your resources and knowledge made it much easier than I could’ve imagined. I’m excited to continue doing it in the future.”
In launching her fundraiser, Grace knew that building momentum and enthusiasm for the students would be critical. First, she had to consider her school’s schedule. At Ridgewood, students rotate through an orange, pink, green, and blue week schedule, meaning each class attends art every day for one full week, then doesn’t return for another three weeks. This structure allows students to fully immerse themselves in their artwork. Grace used that to her advantage as she took a hands-on approach with the Art to Remember resources. Not only did she introduce a new medium and process for students, she also sent reminders to families to make the fundraiser a success.
The Difference with Art to Remember
We are always looking for ways to make things easier for our teachers and improve the profits schools earn. Grace found a few different features of our fundraising process particularly helpful. She used the Art to Remember website to review lesson ideas that would be fun and engaging for her students. Later on, she was able to take advantage of our team’s schedule reminders and pre-made flyers to attach to her emails for families.
“The kit sent to the school was also very straightforward and easy to follow,” said Grace. “I LOVED how the order and reminder forms were all packaged together by class—this made it so easy for my secretary to distribute and for my teachers to pass out to kiddos.”
Behind the scenes, Art to Remember’s resources played a major role in making the process manageable—especially for a first-year teacher. Another standout feature of an Art to Remember fundraiser for Ridgewood Elementary was the virtual art show.
Grace used our platform to invite families, as well as school staff, to view the entire school’s collection of artwork online. This has proven to be a great solution to celebrate not only each child’s piece, but the creativity of the whole school. It’s a convenient and effective way for families to spend more time exploring the artwork and selecting keepsakes!
Key Insights for a Successful Program
While taking a closer look at Ridgewood’s standout fundraising experience, we realized that there were several factors in play. Any teacher can replicate Grace’s approach with Art to Remember for their own fantastic results.
To introduce the project to students, Grace put together a digital collage of different products that Art to Remember offers. She wanted to help students understand the end goal and spark excitement, so she started the project by having kids look over the options and talk about their favorites. There are products at all price ranges, which also makes it easy to engage parents.
“When it came to advertising to parents, I sent multiple spaced-out emails both before and during the fundraiser,” said Grace. “It was nothing crazy, just sharing info about dates, how to order, and how proud I was of our students!”
Sending consistent reminders gives families the opportunity to plan ahead for how they want to support their child and the school’s art program. But it’s also incredibly powerful to have eager students. Grace made this happen by choosing art lessons that would make a great impact for the final keepsakes. Art to Remember has an online library of free lesson ideas that were a great resource along the way.
“I think kiddos were highly engaged with their work because 2nd through 5th grade all learned a new process—monoprinting with plastic sheets and washable markers. Nic Hahn’s colorful shapes lesson on Art to Remember’s website inspired me to try out that printing process with kiddos and they really adored and ran with it because it was new and exciting,” said Grace.
Fostering a high level of student ownership makes a noticeable difference in the classroom, and we’re glad that the Art to Remember resources helped Grace’s process. She explained that kids came into the art room during free or quiet time to keep working, and their excitement naturally translated into increased family engagement. Grace even let a couple of classes take home plastic sheets because they wanted to keep printing at home! She then had a few students who sought out their own materials to show the process to their parents, which she said was really touching.
Support Through Every Step
As a first-year teacher, it made sense that Grace had some concerns about first launching her fundraiser. She wanted to choose the right lessons, and wondered about how the process would work for getting her supplies and labeling the artwork. Fortunately, each challenge was met with clear guidance and flexibility from the Art to Remember team. Questions about paper usage and size, as well as some order issues, were addressed quickly, and having a dedicated representative made all the difference.
“I was also worried about labeling all the artwork,” said Grace. “But the class folders that were sent helped me keep things organized.”
After more than 30 years in the business, Art to Remember has learned how to maximize the fundraising potential for educators and keep things streamlined. When this proven system was matched with Grace’s enthusiasm, Ridgewood Elementary’s results far surpassed other schools in the district. The next step for Grace is to figure out how to apply the funds! She has been compiling a list of all the things she would love to purchase for the art room.
“I’m debating on getting some bigger machinery like a ChompSaw for cardboard cutting, a button press machine, and a mobile iPad holder for demonstrations and class shares,” she said. “I’m also thinking about getting some cordless hot glue guns so I could have one for each table, some 3Doodlers which are 3D pens, Magnatiles, Gelli printing plates, alcohol markers, Twisteezwires, modeling clay, How-to-Draw books, etc.”
Being able to invest in her students and classroom after just one fundraiser has been wonderful for Grace and her career—and we’re happy that we made the process easy to run!
Celebrate Creativity with Our Fundraising Team!
Ridgewood Elementary’s experience shows what’s possible when creativity, communication, and support come together. With Art to Remember, schools find a meaningful way to raise funds for art education, all while showcasing student talent and strengthening connections with parents and loved ones.
Whether you’re a first-year teacher or a seasoned educator, our team is here to guide you through every step. From scheduling and materials to online ordering and customer support, we make sure your fundraiser is a success—year after year.
Ready to see what your school can achieve? Let’s celebrate creativity together. Contact our team today to get your fundraiser on the calendar!