By Jan Uebelherr

McClatchy Newspapers 

MILWAUKEE -- The kids at St. Coletta Day School of Milwaukee aren't like other kids -- and not just because the student body numbers fewer than a dozen. Some have Down syndrome, some are autistic, some have learning disabilities.

What could these kids -- just 11 of them -- do to help raise funds for their school, just like other students do?

"We knew that we needed something a little bit different," says Bill Koehn, administrator and primary instructor at the day school, a nonprofit program for cognitively disabled children. "We weren't going to be able to send our kids door to door selling pizzas."

No matter their cognitive ability, they all have a creative side, Koehn figured. What about their art -- free-spirited, happy?

So for the 11th year, guest artists have volunteered to create projects with the kids, working all year to make art for ColettaScope, an auction that has become the school's signature fundraising event.

Last year, the school raised nearly $15,000 -- its best effort so far -- and outgrew the space at Village Church downtown.

It costs about $9,000 a year to educate a child at the school, and tuition covers about half that, Koehn says. Easing matters a bit is the fact that St. Coletta was one of just three Milwaukee schools given approval as a new voucher school. This year, that means the state pays the tuition of seven students who qualify for the school choice program.

Fundraising is still critical, and every child at the 53-year-old school has a part in it. ColettaScope is the only fundraising effort of the school, which this year opened a secondary level school for kids age 14 to 17.

Through word-of-mouth, the school connected with artists willing to partner with kids on projects.

Every child has at least four pieces in the auction, with works ranging from sculpture and paintings to collage.

After a selection committee sorts through the art, auction pieces are sent to a small army of volunteer framers at shops around town.

On the night of the auction, the kids are introduced to the crowd, which in the past has numbered more than 200.

"They take their bow and in some cases talk about their art," Koehn says. "They love it."

Student Tim Malmsten, 16, described how he felt going on stage and being introduced: "Kind of nervous."

He had one word for how he feels about being in the show: "happy." Malmsten, who has nine pieces in the show, offered few words about how he feels about being in the spotlight on auction night.

There's one perk that any teenager would appreciate, though. "You get to stay up later," he says.

There are 0 comments - Display All Comments