Pinellas Park School Hosts Live Auction to Support Students with Special Needs

Nina Harris Exceptional Student Education Center's annual fundraiser will feature a dinner, live auction, and over 100 prizes to benefit its 200 students with disabilities.

Apr. 10, 2026 at 11:25am

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A brightly colored, high-contrast silkscreen print of a specialized communication device like an Eyegaze Edge system, repeated in a tight grid pattern, conceptually representing the essential but expensive assistive technology used at the Nina Harris ESE Center.A live auction fundraiser aims to provide the specialized equipment and programming needed to support students with disabilities at the Nina Harris Exceptional Student Education Center.Pinellas Park Today

The Nina Harris Exceptional Student Education Center in Pinellas Park, Florida, which serves around 200 students with disabilities and special needs ages 3 to 22, is hosting its annual live auction fundraiser and dinner on Saturday. The event will feature a $20 dinner hosted by Glory Days Grill, followed by a live auction of over 100 gift baskets and prizes ranging from hotel stays to theme park tickets, jewelry, art, and specialty food baskets. The school relies on fundraisers like this to cover the high costs of specialized equipment and programming for its students.

Why it matters

The Nina Harris ESE Center provides individualized education and support services for students with a wide range of disabilities, from those with limited mobility who require specialized communication devices to those who need physical therapy equipment to spend time out of their wheelchairs. While the school is publicly funded, the unique needs of its students result in higher costs that require additional fundraising efforts to cover.

The details

The Nina Harris ESE Center has about 200 students with disabilities and special needs, ages 3 to 22. The school modifies all instruction and equipment to meet the independent needs of each student, providing therapies ranging from vision to speech and language. This specialized equipment, such as $500 Eyegaze Edge communication devices and walkers/gait trainers, is crucial but very expensive. The school recently received a $50,000 grant to purchase six walkers and gait trainers, but much of its existing equipment is old and outdated. The school also hosts special events throughout the year, from a pirate festival to an adaptive Easter egg hunt, to enrich the students' experiences.

  • The live auction fundraiser and dinner will take place on Saturday, April 12, 2026 from 6 to 9 p.m.

The players

Nina Harris Exceptional Student Education Center

A public school in Pinellas Park, Florida that serves around 200 students with disabilities and special needs ages 3 to 22, providing individualized education and support services.

Jacquie Grimes

A behavioral specialist at the Nina Harris ESE Center who is helping to organize the school's annual live auction fundraiser.

Hawkins Family Foundation

A foundation that recently provided a $50,000 grant to the Nina Harris ESE Center to purchase walkers and gait trainers to help students spend more time out of their wheelchairs.

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What they’re saying

“What we do here is individualize all instruction to their independent needs. We have therapies for them here, everything from vision to speech and language. We do whatever we can do to get each kid successful in their own unique way.”

— Jacquie Grimes, Behavioral Specialist, Nina Harris ESE Center

“It's super expensive, about $500. It's hooked up to an iPad and it's a thing that reads your eyes so you can communicate. It varies, which level you get. It's expensive; all the equipment here is unbelievably expensive.”

— Jacquie Grimes, Behavioral Specialist, Nina Harris ESE Center

What’s next

The live auction fundraiser and dinner will take place this Saturday, April 12, 2026 from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Pinellas Park Performing Arts Center.

The takeaway

The Nina Harris ESE Center's annual live auction fundraiser is crucial to providing the specialized equipment and programming needed to support its 200 students with a wide range of disabilities and special needs. This event helps bridge the gap between public funding and the high costs required to meet each student's individualized educational and therapeutic requirements.