The Bemidji 31 Education Foundation held their 2nd annual fundraising event last week at Bemidji Brewing, allowing the community to buy a drink during Community Pint Night to support programs at Bemidji Area Schools.

“This events raises money, and the money that we use from this event goes toward funding classroom programs,” said Jeff Haack, Bemidji 31 Education Foundation Fund Committee Member. “So we raise money for things that otherwise wouldn’t be funded – field trips, science programs, musical instruments, really, anything a teacher or an educator wants that their budget doesn’t allow for.”

Although the Minnesota Legislature passed an education bill this year that boosted funding to public schools, according to Haack, the money still isn’t enough to support all the extracurricular activities in the classrooms.

“Within public school money, 80% of all funds that come in go to wages and benefits,” explained Haack. “That leaves 20% for everything else building maintenance, everything from from light bulbs to lampshades. The amount of money that’s left over, if you have $1 for all the public school funding, about a penny goes into the actual classroom.”

According to preliminary totals, the Pint Night event raised $2,600 for the foundation.

By — Zy'Riah Simmons