Real Housewives: No real money for Ivy Prep
I sit next to AJC blogger Rodney Ho, who seems to be in daily conversation with the Real Housewives of Atlanta. Based on his many interviews with them –”Are you still with Big Papa?” “Are you banned from the restaurant?” — I never thought there would be an education angle.
But alas, the Real Housewives seem to be everywhere. This time, however, the ratings weren’t as good.
Former Real Housewife DeShawn Snow was involved in a fund raiser for Ivy Prep that fizzled. Elissa Eubanks/AJC
D. Aileen Dodd reports that former Real Atlanta Housewife DeShawn Snow, who struggled to host a successful charity event on reality TV, held a failed fund raiser in August for Ivy Preparatory Academy, the Gwinnett charter school that is the subject of a lawsuit by the county.
Dodd reports: Weak ticket sales and sponsorship bailouts dimmed the light on Snow’s “Night of A Thousand Stars Gala 2009” in August in the swank ballroom of Twelve Hotel in Atlantic Station. The special event, which featured VIP tables carrying a $6,500 price-tag, was supposed to benefit Snow’s foundation, Ivy Preparatory Academy, an all-girls charter school, and Girls Inc., a club empowering young ladies to achieve. Two months after the fancy Atlantic Station gala, however, neither group received a dime from Snow, wife of former NBA player Eric Snow, or a call explaining why, officials said.
“I have not heard from Snow at all, I have not heard from the foundation,’’ said Nina Gilbert, head of school for Ivy Prep. Gilbert said Snow stepped forward to help Ivy Prep with the benefit during a time when it struggled to make payroll.
At least one recent event panned out for the school. Dodd reports that an event at Salem Missionary Baptist Church in Lilburn netted the school $12,000 in September. Grammy Award-winner Regina Belle, now a gospel artist, was the keynote speaker and performer.
Having done my share of silent auctions and other school fund raisers, I sometimes wonder if the smartest tactic is just to ask parents to write checks. There are so many expenses involved with staging big events that I wonder about the final payoff.
Any ideas on surefire fund raisers? I think schools could use the help now.
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20 comments Add your comment
Maureen's accountability metric
October 15th, 2009
11:10 am
And the blog hits a new low in pandering.
Maureen Downey
October 15th, 2009
11:13 am
MAM, I don’t know. The day is still young.
Maureen
Gwinnett County Schools and Ivy Prep Parent
October 15th, 2009
11:18 am
In terms of Ivy Prep’s parents, the school serves a high percentage of low-income families so most parents struggle with just the uniform and transportation costs. Writing checks for public school students who should receive the same funding as their district school counterparts seems a little out of step with the poor economy you mentioned. Perhaps the per-pupil funding that the school is currently receiving should just be maintained. Just a thought.
Tony
October 15th, 2009
11:24 am
My suggestion is that the school contact all the charter school fan clubs and solicit donations. Why don’t these folks pony up?
Maureen's accountability metric
October 15th, 2009
11:29 am
Maureen perhaps it’s fairer to say that it’s more of a damning indictment of our country, rather than this blog, that a media outlet would feel compelled to reference the Real Housewives, even tangentially, in an education blog.
As someone once said, we have met the enemy, and it is us.
Maureen Downey
October 15th, 2009
11:38 am
MAM. I disagree. A newspaper blog has to respond and reflect news. I think it is newsworthy that one of the stars of that very popular show held a benefit for a high profile charter school and the event raised zero for the school. I also think it’s a fair jumping off point for the overall issue of fund raisers at schools. I have received about 10 e-mails this week at home on an upcoming school fund raiser and a district fund raiser in my community. I have been surprised how much fund raising goes on in public schools, from pumpkin sales to carnivals with rides. I think it’s an interesting issue and often wonder about the schools where parents can’t pull off successful and frequent fund raisers. How much do schools net from all these fund raisers and do they make any difference?
Maureen
Meme
October 15th, 2009
11:44 am
I think the biggest problem with this fundraiser is that the organizations haven’t gotten any of the money. I know that it takes money to put on a fundraiser and have often wondered why they didn’t just ask people for a check.
Maureen's accountability metric
October 15th, 2009
11:57 am
Maureen let me ask you, and for that matter anyone else, what do you think would have the most impact on “what’s best for Georgia students”.
To bring public pressure to bear on what the Real Housewives of Atlanta are doing, or to bring public pressure to bear to compelling DOE officials to send monitors to those schools where the evidence suggests cheating has occurred, so the public can be assured that the scores indicate what the students did, and not what the panicky adults did for them?
Wouldn’t it be better to prevent cheating from happening, rather than to pay for expensive investigations and listen to implausible denials after it happened?
Why does one get the feeling that we seem more committed to what a supposedly real housewife is doing, than we are to what real children are doing on the tests that are alleged to monitor their progress?
GAPeach
October 15th, 2009
1:11 pm
Ms. Snow should consider doing things on a much smaller scale. She has lost money on yet another fundraiser. It would’ve been just as nice at a local rec. center decorated to the hilt with dollar store goodies. It’s not about putting on a show, it’s about raising money. Five-hundred dollars a ticket is excessive in this economy. If she’d spent $1500 and earned $5000 it would’ve been a success. Baby steps Ms. Snow, baby steps…
Jose
October 15th, 2009
1:40 pm
Umm, umm, umm…another shady housewife of the ATL…
kevykel2008
October 15th, 2009
1:49 pm
The most unfortunate thing about this whole mess is that we actually put money in these individuals hands. By watching, following and generating ratings for trashy shows. That does not do anything but benefit the rich time and time again. The rich get richer and the poor stay poor. It’s sad that Mrs. Snow actually have enough money to hire a personal chef, nannies and house keepers. Not to mention how she flaunted her excessive spending while on the show. But she decide to budget and or be conservative when it comes to something that is important and humanity worthy. Again us as blacks failing to do for the very community we take from. No wonder people of other races laugh at us….when it comes to being deemed one of atlanta’ s social elite’s. This lady should be ran out of Atlanta alone with anybody else that uses our city name for the exploitations of personal gain but can’t even contribute to giving back when it actually counts… It’s sad and unfortunate but we enable and allow this crap to continue. And then we held them with praise we all should be ashame and we need to wake up and tell these parasites enough is enough. Real Housewife my #$%…. Don’t make me laugh. And this show speaks to the priorities of this city and why we are failing in every aspect economically. Little to no consumer laws. Regulated energy market(monopoly). One of the cruelist state for the homeless…And one of the poorest ranked school systems. And a deteriorating housing market where some lenders will not even touch this state. But it’s the place to be to shop…Taking hard working individuals money, And club…., Don’t forget the strip bars and ritzy restaraunts Come to the A is you want to be a actor or rapper…. But don’t come is you really is a hard working american. And can you please tell me why Dekalb decides to but there traffic violators on probation for a speeding ticket or send you to jail if you can’t pay. It’s that stronge arming tactics no better than Al capone and dilinger from the 30’s and 40’s….. Expecially when you can attack ones credit and judgements and liens against there property like every other state does….What a State That really cares………………………
K.G.
Larry
October 15th, 2009
3:56 pm
Paying 6Gs and spending the night in a room full of housewives sounds more like something a court would make you do after the vice squad nails you than it does a fundraiser.
Shananeeeeee Fananeeeeeeee
October 15th, 2009
4:54 pm
She might have had a problem with this fundraiser but the smartest thing this woman ever did was get off the show. She should keep as far away from the other gals as she possibly can.
Maureen's accountability metric
October 15th, 2009
9:09 pm
I see Maureen wanted no part of the question posed at 11:57 am.
Hold a “real housewife” accountable? No problem. Hold the DOE accountable for a cost effective way to restore some faith in the integrity of CRCT testing? Whoa, hold your horses there! You’re going way too far with that “watchdog” talk.
Disgusted with
October 16th, 2009
2:46 am
Ivy Prep should not have relied on a “Real Housewife” to save their school! Especially when Ivy Prep’s HIGH PRICED consultant, who really knows nothing about funding or charity work was running the show…People if you take the time to do your homework(no pun intended) and check references, which might reveal “Snow” is in fact a house wife and was just trying to help and IP consultant has a bad track record. At the end of the day Ivy Prep’s should have spent more money on researching their HIGH PRICED consultant’s references before they became the ones giving to charity. How much money could Ivy Prep have saved by eliminating the “high priced” consultants on staff, who don’t deliver and give other entertainment consultants a bad name.
angel
October 16th, 2009
4:31 pm
Amen GAPeach. I commend her for her efforts but the fact is that this woman is always reaching WAYYYYYY over her head. She needs to listen to her husband!!!
JUST THE FACTS PLEASE
October 16th, 2009
5:08 pm
“Disgusted with” (or should I call you “other entertainment consultant”), the AJC article was not about Ivy Prep’s consultants (high priced or otherwise). Nor is the AJC article about a consultant with a poor track record. Why do people like to twist the truth with personal attacks that have no bearing on the issue at hand? Just the facts please: The AJC article was a follow up story to the Snow Foundation’s event that the AJC covered months ago (pre-event coverage, as well as a pictorial, post-event story). I am sure the AJC was surprised to learn that Ivy Prep had not heard from the Snow Foundation months after the event took place. I understand funding can be a tedious process, but maybe the ‘reality’ is there was not enough money raised during the Snow Foundation’s gala to be donated. If there was, Mrs. Snow didn’t relate that to the consultant or the school. A simple call to Ivy Prep months ago could have made this article a tad different (at least the founder’s quote about not hearing from Mrs. Snow would have been different. I am not sure if the consultant’s experiences with Mrs. Snow would have been any different.) I am certain Mrs. Snow feels attacked by the article, especially since all she wanted to do was help (not ’save’ an entire school). She has high expectations for her foundation and should be commended for her efforts on behalf of young girls. But the facts remain clear- Mrs. Snow’s event was not the success she’d hoped for, she shifted blame to this consultant, she left the consultant hanging with bills, and she didn’t reach out to Ivy Prep (and maybe even Girls Inc) in a professional and timely fashion to give them a status report on her intentions. Schools do what they can to secure ‘legitimate’ funding sources, and maybe just asking people for a check is the quickest (and easiest) way to raise needed funds. Mrs. Snow and other ‘entertainers should follow Salem Missionary Baptist Church’s example: eliminate the glitz and glamour and use your established contacts to ensure your event is a success for all involved.
Parent1
October 21st, 2009
12:26 pm
Disgusted with you’re on to the right trail. You are not off beaten path. Just the Facts wants to detour the facts. The Article mentions real Papa (I thought Papa married to another woman other than the Real Housewife that was featured on the show). I often wondered why Ivy chose this route for fundraising? Which route you may ask? The Real Housewives of Atlanta. Desperate behaviors for attention by Ivy. What a shame. Disgusting as Ivy swings in the direction that will serve them. Gwinnett County and Ivy Prep Parent perhaps the per-pupil funding that the school is currently receiving should just be maintained is unlawful and you just don’t get it. You are being mislead. If you are a law abiding citizen check the Constitution for help.
I Must Laugh
October 28th, 2009
4:47 pm
Ms. Snow has already proven that she doesn’t deliver in the fundraising arena. Why would the school involve her in the first place? We all know she can write checks (ie. her tithes displayed on the show)….so why not whip out that checkbook and make things right. Doesn’t she have some spare jewelry she can sell???
Lindsay
November 19th, 2009
8:49 pm
i am a student in the sixth grade at ivy prep and i think you guys just need to stop talking about my school. it is a really great one. we have double servings of math and english.(math analysis, math operations, lterature and witing)our mission is this: within a strutured and supportive environment ivy prep develops middle and high school girls into thoroughly equipped shcolars who are prepared to enter and succeed in any college or university of their choice. if some of you guys dont like our mission it is ok because you guys are not the girls that are at this school. our mission suits us very well. SUPPORT IVY PREP!