2025 Bids For Kids Recap
An Elkhorn Public Schools Foundation Fundraiser
The 2025 Bids For Kids Event Raised over $72,000!
Thank you to to bidders, event attendees, sponsors, and auction-item donors for helping making Bids For Kids so successful!
At Bids For Kids on October 9th, Elkhorn Grandview Middle School band teacher, Chris Johnson, was still smiling months after the Loess Hill Jazz Orchestra workshopped and performed with the Elkhorn summer band program in July. This activity was a classroom grant funded by the Elkhorn Public Schools Foundation.
“It was a phenomenal experience. [The Loess Hills Jazz Orchestra] did a whole hour-long workshop with our students, and they did a concert afterwards and presented stuff,” Chris said at Bids For Kids. Chris was asked to speak at the event to share about his grant. All the proceeds from Bids For Kids goes to funding before-and-after school Math & Reading Intervention at the elementary schools and the district-wide Classroom Grant Program.
The Elkhorn middle schools have an annual summer band program that attracts hundreds of students and goes on for three weeks at EGMS during the summer. Last December, Chris was brainstorming experiences that he could bring to the students when he came up with this idea for a classroom grant.
“We have a jazz band, and I wanted to bring in a jazz band, a big band, so they could hear what it’s really supposed to sound like,” Chris said as chuckles filled the room as attendees remembered their middle school band experiences or currently have children in band.
The 2025 Bids For Kids silent auction and in-person beer and wine tasting raised $72,000 thanks to the support of the (near and far) bidders, event attendees, sponsors, and auction-item donors. The funds will be used to pay teachers who lead the before-and-after school math and reading clubs while also funding classroom grants like Chris Johnson’s.
Math and reading can be very difficult subjects, and sometimes students just need a little extra support for a concept to finally click. The before-and-after school Math & Reading Intervention program is structured like a club at the various schools. Students get to work on concepts in small groups and even one-on-one with the teacher leading the group. For the 2024-2025 school year, approximately 300 students participated in the clubs across the district, and there 86 teachers who led a club.
The Foundation’s Classroom Grant Program also received funding from Bids For Kids because the program continues to grow alongside our expanding district. For the 2025-2026 school year, 76 classroom grants were awarded, totaling $158,800! Individual teachers, whole grade levels, or schools can apply for a grant. Some grants this year included classroom sets of books, funds for robotics at the middle and high school levels, reading and math curriculum/materials, calm boxes, a speaker for the middle schools, and more!
These two impactful programs help support Elkhorn students and staff and provide additional materials to deepen learning and make it fun! Again, thank you to everyone who, in one way or another, participated in Bids for Kids! We are so thankful for your support!
Chris said it best. “Thank you again to the Foundation for everything they do. Please help and donate to the Foundation,” he said. “They just do fantastic work, and I’m a big fan.”
Bids For Kids Event Photos
Special thank you to our Bids For Kids sponsors!
