Make A Wish

Last week I had an absolutely incredible experience with my officers and the entire student body of Hunter High School!  At our Leadership Conference last summer, one of the workshops was on service.  I sent several of my students to this workshop and they were incredibly inspired by the presentation by Make-A-Wish Utah.  One of my officers, in particular, was really passionate about working with Make-A-Wish so we invited Daniel Dudley, a representative from the organization, to speak to our class.  My officers immediately began to plan for a week of activities to raise money to sponsor a wish.

Over fall break, Daniel arranged for us to visit the Make-A-Wish House.  I was amazed at my students' dedication to this project on a day off from school!  A typical wish costs approximately $5000.00 and my students committed to sponsor a seven-year old boy named Carson.  He has a brain tumor and his wish was to go to the Florida theme parks.  (We learned that Disneyland and Disney World are the most popular wishes).  I was a little bit concerned that we wouldn't be able to raise that much money but Daniel assured me that any money we raised would go to a fund and that Carson would get his wish!  My students, however, were convinced that they could do it!  We started our "Wish Week" last Monday and started collecting donations every day at lunch.  We hung a giant thermometer with various challenges which the officers would complete in our culminating assembly if certain dollar amounts were raised.  When each goal was met, the officers would fill in the thermometer.  By Thursday afternoon, all but two of our milestones had been met.  We also had a Dodge Ball tournament on Thursday with many of the clubs and organizations participating with teams (we also had several teams from our rival, Cyprus High School, participate).  Dodge Ball was a lot of fun and a great success because we raised $250 from registration fees!  On Friday we wore our Wish Week shirts and decorated the gym with blue balloons and streamers (blue is Carson's favorite color).

We introduced Daniel who spoke about what Make-A-Wish Utah is all about and then he introduced Carson, who didn't feel very well, and his family.  The students responded with a standing ovation! His Dad spoke about everything that Carson has been through and what the hope of having Carson's wish granted has meant to him and their family.  I have never heard our student body so quiet before.  I have chills just remembering that moment!  We have been talking about Carson all week but being able to meet him was really inspiring.  The officers took buckets into the crowd and had a "Miracle Minute."  We asked the crowd to donate as much money as possible in one minute.

We had several officers quickly count the money from the "Miracle Minute" and we raised over $1000 which met our next milestone!

Then we had the officers complete the challenges.  For raising $250, the freshmen and sophomore officers had to eat dog food!  (They came up with these challenges!)

For $500, all of the boys on student council had their legs waxed (this was hilarious because their reactions were so dramatic).

For $750, several officers had to eat mystery pies.  She got the mayonnaise one!

For $1000, several officers had to drink raw eggs.  (They were processed eggs because salmonella!)

For $2000, we all had to eat crickets!  This was the challenge that Carson was looking forward to the most!  (Just so you know, they are disgusting!)

For $3000, we had our football coach get dunked by ice!  He was a good sport!

After the challenges, we presented a check for $4500 to Carson and Make-A-Wish Utah!  I was so overcome by this moment because I doubted that we would be able to raise this much money!  My officers and the student body of HHS proved me wrong!

Then, Carson's Wish Team granted his wish with a special present from Mickey Mouse!

I was trying to keep my composure throughout the assembly but I absolutely lost it when Carson, who didn't feel well, took the microphone and told the crowd, "Thank you," in a tiny little voice!  I was not alone because all of my students throughout the rest of the school day told me that they cried during that moment as well.  All of the hard work was worth it!

KTVX was there to film the assembly and interviewed Emily, our Student Body President.  You can watch the segment here. (Emily is getting really good at speaking to the media.  Go here to see her interview on KUTV about our Homecoming Queen).

I am so incredibly proud of my officers and the whole student body of HHS!  It was definitely a magical experience to have our school be so unified in one goal.  We hope you have a great time at Disney World, Carson!

Note:  The Spirit Can made another appearance!  It has become extremely popular with students!

Also, go here to find out more about Make-A-Wish Utah.

Quarters for Christmas

This year the HHS student body officers chose KSL's Quarters for Christmas as the recipient of their school-wide holiday service project.  For one week they went around to fourth period classes and sold paper links for 10 cents.  Not only did Hunter High look quite festive with red and green paper chains in every classroom, but the SBOs were able raise $1500 to donate!  I am really proud of that total because it is all from students!  We did not have corporate sponsors or receive large parent donations.  In fact, most of the money came in the form of crumpled dollar bills and coins.  KSL invited us to make an on-air donation on the first day of winter break and it was a great experience!  Here are some pictures of our visit.

In the lobby of KSL Broadcast House.

We got to go right on the floor during a broadcast.

We got a tour of the newsroom.  Whenever we walked through an area, our guide would announce our donation and people would clap for us! Everyone treated us as if we had donated a million dollars!

Getting ready for the broadcast.

It was really fun to go behind the scenes to see what goes into a news broadcast.

During the broadcast.  Vincent and Evelyn did such a great job on the air!

The HHS graphics teacher made us this large check to present to KSL.  It was a big hit. (We gave them a real one, too!)

Posing with Deanie Wimmer!  She was so nice and very genuine.  I was quite impressed with how much time she took with us in the middle of a live broadcast!  KSL is definitely a class act!

I am so proud of my SBOs for all of their hard work in making Quarters for Christmas such a success this year!  You can go here to find out more about KSL's Quarters for Christmas program.

Festival of Trees 2014

I have been volunteering at the Festival of Trees for many years (some years I even took students with me which was incredibly rewarding) and I had the opportunity to do so again last night.  The Festival of Trees is a holiday event where groups and individuals donate decorated Christmas trees (and other items such as wreaths, centerpieces, and gingerbread houses), usually in honor of someone who has died or who has been very ill.  Corporations, and sometimes individuals, bid on the trees at an auction and all of the proceeds go to Primary Children's Hospital.  Then the trees, and other items, are put on display for the public at the South Towne Expo Center.  I volunteer as a hostess and my job is to monitor a small area of trees.  It is such a worthwhile cause and I look forward to it every year!  After my shift is over I like to wander around and look at all of the trees (and get one of the delicious sweet rolls).  Here are some of my favorites.

While I was working in my area, I kept hearing people talk about the Pirate Tree!  When my shift was over, I decided that I should try and find it.  So fun!

This was my favorite tree of the evening.  Obviously!

 One of the trees in my area was donated by the musicians of the Utah Symphony.  You know how much I love the Utah Symphony so I thought that was awesome!

This cute Frozen tree was also in my area.  I actually had to chase down a little girl who took a doll from the tree!

The most popular tree in my area was called "Unified Heroes."  It was donated in honor of a little boy named Gage who loved firemen.  All of the children (and some adults) wanted to touch it!

The Festival of Trees continues every day until Saturday, Dec. 6 from 10:00 am to 10:00 pm.  Go here for more information.