Perth Voice Interactive

AN IMMENSE fundraising effort by Mount Hawthorn Primary School’s P&C has seen $56,550 raised for new basketball courts.

The old courts were getting hammered hard by phys ed classes, after-school training, and being open out of hours for community use. 

The worn and cracked surface had seen a few scratched knees in recent years so the tight-knit school community pulled together for a series of fundraising events throughout term three last year. 

It all culminated in a monumentally messy colour run on the last day of term 3 in September 2023 as students ran a gauntlet being covered in coloured cornstarch.

The efforts saw an enviable $56,550 profit raised by students and parents, allowing the resurfacing to go ahead over the Christmas holidays in time for the new term.

The event was coordinated by P&C events team members Kirsten Petrovski and Natalie Cameron, and Ms Petrovski said “when the school gave the P&C the fundraising goal to revamp the basketball courts, the school community rallied; the students showed incredible drive and passion, and their parents and families matched that with unwavering support”.

Ms Cameron said “it was a very special collaboration throughout a whole term that included plenty of teachers being ‘slimed’ along the way”, with staff pledging to let students cover them in buckets of slime when funding milestones were reached. 

While the courts are already a hit compared to the knee-graters of old, there’ll be an official launch Friday February 23 with an after-school students v teachers basketball game.