MONOPOLY 2009

Sponsored By Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake O’Rourke Middle School PTA
and Community Human Services 

The 25th annual Monopoly games will be held on Friday April 24 and Saturday April 25, 2009. 

What is Monopoly?

The Monopoly game is a life-sized Monopoly board (44 ft. by 44 ft.), complete with a jail, bank, real estate office, houses, hotels, giant dice, and students as playing pieces. The Monopoly games are played over a period of two days by 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students. Six games are usually scheduled; two games on Friday April 25th and four games on Saturday April 26th. Each team plays one three-hour session.  (Monopoly 2007 hosted 34 Monopoly teams.)

All O’Rourke Middle School students are invited to join in the fun by either playing on a team or as an individual participating as a banker, realtor, dice roller, or police officer. 

Why is Monopoly so important? Your donation directly assists our community. Students raise money by obtaining donations from family, friends, and the community. Each dollar collected by the team is exchanged for $10 of Monopoly play money to be used for the game. The money raised will be divided between the O’Rourke Middle School PTA and Community Human Services (CHS). Both organizations serve youth and families in our community and funds are used for programs such as:

For Community Human Services:

	Family support services for parents of children with special needs
	Employment skills training and job matching for youth
	Parent education and support to parents of pre-school children with behavioral difficulties
	Free transportation  on "The Wellness Express" to medical appointments for residents in the towns of Ballston and Milton and the Village of Ballston Spa

 For the O'Rourke Middle School PTA

	Art & Enrichment programs, assemblies at school and field trips
	School Directory and PTA Newsletter
	Scholarship Program
	Eighth Grade Class Night
	Odyssey of the Mind and Reflections Programs
	High School Prom After-Glow

The rules of the game are the same as the Parker Brothers board game, with players moving according to the roll of the dice, purchasing property on which they land, and collecting rent from other players. (CHS and PTA have received permission from Parker Brothers to use the Monopoly logo and board.) The games raise nearly $20,000 for Community Human Services and O’Rourke Middle School PTA. It is the largest fundraiser for O’Rourke PTA.