The week of April 7th, seniors from Rocky Mountain High School set up to collect donations from their fellow students. This week of donation gathering leads up to a talent show competition unique to Rocky. Alongside their chosen teacher or staff member, eight seniors compete to raise money for a local charity of their choice. However, the collection is a little more cutthroat.
With nearly 2,100 students passing through the halls each day, these eight seniors work effortlessly to corral, persuade, and entice passersby to choose to support them and their charity. The charity that raises the most money will win the “Heart of the Pack” award at the end of the talent show on Friday.
The contestants and their respective charities are as follows: Daniel Mitchell – The Parents Circle, Nathan Woodall – The FOCO cafe, Jamie Sawyer – The Trevor Project, Lindsey Kaines – KickStart Self Defense, Taylor Slauson – Homeward Alliance, Riley Burner – Breast Cancer Research Foundation, Zoe Gugelman – Caring Canines, and Ivan Austin-Groen – with the Kayla Foundation.
The friendly competition between these seniors is quite remarkable.
When asked what their individual fundraising strategies were, there were various answers.
Nathan Woodall, supporting the FOCO Cafe, said, “Just talk to as many people as possible and hope that there’s some generosity at Rocky.”
However, not all strategies were so light hearted. When asked the same question, Jamie Sawyer said, “Getting in people’s faces, get loud, and threaten them.” Then she added, “Threaten them with a good time, to donate, you know.”
The most uplifting part of the whole event is how all the seniors really want to see the others succeed. When asked who they believed would win the “Heart of the Pack” award, which is given to the candidate who can raise the most money for their charity, every contestant mentioned someone else. They pointed out all of the strengths of their competitor’s campaign.
Most importantly, it is easy to see why these individuals were chosen to represent Rocky in this way. All of them believe in the power of their school and community.
Riley Berner, when asked if he believed the lobo community would come through, said, “I do. I think we can always rely on the community. I think we have a great community, students and parents. They will come through.”
Jamie Sawyer added, “I see the look on their faces. They all yearn to give back to the community.”
Rocky’s Battle of the Bo’s competition will be held at Rocky Mountain High School at 7:00 pm, on April 11.The fundraising will be totaled during the show and announced at the end of the night.
