Miranda Westrich's favorite subject is math. Fundraising? Not so much.
"They put a lot of pressure on us" said Westrich, a fourth grader.
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So far this year, Westrich has raised $350 selling cookie dough. She's also gone door-to-door with candles and wrapping paper.
"They flash all these toys and prizes, limo rides and 'Spongebob' lunches at them, and they come home and they're brainwashed," said Mandy Westrich, Miranda's mother. "They're like, ‘Mom we need to sell like 800 cookie doughs.'"
Mandy Westrich limits where the kids can sell. She said Miranda's dad doesn't take it to work and there is no knocking on neighbors' doors.
But not all students and parents find fundraising as a burden. Angelina Woodring, another elementary school student, is a fan of fundraising.
"I go to my grandma's house a lot, so when I go over there I would bring the envelope with the catalogues over there," Woodring said. "We only have it for a couple of weeks and I like to sell as much as I can."
"The money for the teachers helps them to buy things in their classrooms like science kits," PTA President Tanya Hilkert said.
If there's good participation in fundraising, $60,000 can be raised.
"A lot of parents are under the impression that public education should be completely free," said Amy Christensen, with Leading Edge Fundraisers. "The schools really do need the parent's support."
Christensen said the money raised can pay for books, clinic nurses and copy paper.
Schools usually hire a fundraising company if there is a product involved. Companies keep 40-50 percent of the profit.
Christensen said walkathons can be done without a company since there is no product involved. She said typically there is 25 percent participation in most school fundraisers.