On March 4 a St. Patrick’s Day Dinner “Italian Style” is scheduled to be held at the Knights of Columbus in Netcong at 7 p.m. The event will help raise money to fund student technology initiatives for Netcong Elementary School.

The event will include a catered dinner from Burrini’s Olde World Market which includes corned beef and cabbage, parsley potatoes, buttered carrots, shepherd’s pie, chicken francaise, penne vodka, eggplant rollatine, Irish soda bread, dessert, beer, wine, soda, and water. A cash bar will also be available for other cocktails. Entertainment will include a DJ, Irish step dancers, bagpipers, and a 50/50 raffle. Tickets are available at the Main Office of Netcong School and at the Netcong Borough Town Hall. Tickets are $45 per person.

Board President Bernadette Dalesandro had the idea last year and the event was a major success in that $10,000 was raised. Dalesandro said this fundraiser is extremely important because it allows Netcong School to raise funds for resources that will ensure students will continue to thrive as 21st Century learners. Dalesandro hopes that this second annual event will be a new Netcong School tradition for many years to come and that all money raised will provide continuing improvements to help make Netcong School’s technology second to none. “I saw what other organizations were doing to raise money for student technology and I jumped on the idea. Immediately, I connected the need to Netcong School. This was a great way to connect community involvement to the school,” says Dalesandro.

Dalesandro also initiated incentives to sell dinner tickets as well. At this point in time, any Netcong School Staff Member will get their name entered into a drawing to win a $100 gift card for every dinner ticket purchased. “I sold the first dinner ticket to Dr. Cinotti! Her name will be entered into the drawing. Who’s next?” says Dalesandro. There are three opportunities for students to win three Chromebook, specifically, the student who sells the most event tickets, the student who sells the second most event tickets, and every student who sells one raffle book will get their name entered in a drawing to win a Chromebook.

Cinotti, Chief School Administrator for Netcong School District, reiterates, “I have never seen so much commitment and desire from board members, community members, and parents, to assist us with the necessary purchases we need for our students. Fundraisers like this allow us to provide one to one Google Chromebooks in grades two through eight. In my 21 years in education, I have yet to see a district with such a small operating budget do so much with so little,” says Cinotti.