Make A Wish 2016

Last year my officers had the amazing opportunity to work with the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Utah to sponsor Carson, a seven year old boy with a brain tumor.  His wish was to go to Disney World and, with the help of the generous student body of HHS, we were able to make his wish come true!  When the 2016-2017 officers were planning for this school year, they immediately wanted to sponsor another child.  In fact, one of the new officers told me that she specifically ran for office so she could participate in this campaign.  It is pretty magical!

This year we were able to sponsor McKelle, a girl who has cerebral palsy and hearing loss.  She loves the Disney princesses so we based our "Wish Week" around the princess theme.  One of the officers designed a special shirt for the week with Cinderella as the logo and we sold the shirts as a fundraiser.  We also ordered Make-A-Wish wristbands (we sold out of them in two days) and sold stars that students could write their names on to hang in the commons.  In addition, we held our 2nd Annual Dodgeball Tournament which raised quite a bit of money.  Like last year, we created a huge thermometer with challenges that the officers would complete in our Wish Assembly if certain monetary goals were achieved.

We introduced McKelle to the student body at the beginning of the assembly and she certainly charmed everyone in the gym.  My friend made her a princess shirt and she was so excited!

We had her Mom and several of her siblings speak to the crowd about the difficulties McKelle goes through on a daily basis.  They also spoke about her love of the Disney princesses.  She wants to go to Disney World so much that she has a bag packed by her bed ready to go!

Then we had a "Miracle Minute" where the officers went into the crowd to collect money.  HHS donated almost $1,000 in that minute!

Then the officers completed the challenges.  One of them was "Egg Roulette."  We had hard boiled and raw eggs and each officer had to pick one to smash against their forehead.  The raw egg was a little bit messy!

Another challenge was "Mystery Baby Food."  The officers were blindfolded and we fed them such delicacies as carrots, beets, squash, and peas.  Apparently, the peas are pretty gross!

Several officers had to eat a raw onion.  I didn't think this would be too bad but, apparently, it was disgusting!  We also had the boys wax their legs (like last year) and one of the officers cut her long hair!

When we were brainstorming different challenges, the officers wanted to have a tarantula walk on the officers who were afraid of spiders.  I didn't think that the administration would approve this challenge but they did with the proviso that we not harm the tarantula.  I thought that was hilarious!  It turns out that tarantulas are very fragile and, when I picked it up from the pet store, I was given lots of instructions.  When I was in college getting my teaching certificate, no one ever said that I would have to be a tarantula wrangler!

Throughout the week, we sold raffle tickets to students for the chance to throw a pie at their favorite teacher, coach, or administrator.  We drew twelve names and this was the highlight of the assembly!  I can't imagine why but we made lots of money with this challenge!  (The teachers, coaches, and administrators were very good sports!).  We were able to present a check to the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Utah in the amount of $4,021.25!

Several of the officers dressed up as princesses to give McKelle a tiara and a trip to Disney World!  This week was so much work but it was worth it just to see McKelle's face when her wish was granted!  She programmed her iPad to thank the crowd and they gave her a standing ovation.  Such an amazing experience!

Note:  Go here to see the news story on KTVX and go here to find out more about Make-A-Wish Utah.

Festival of Trees 2015

Yesterday I volunteered at the Festival of Trees for the seventh year in a row!  It is a wonderful opportunity to help raise money for Primary Children's Hospital.  Various individuals and groups decorate trees, often in honor or remembrance of a patient at Primary Children's Hospital, and donate them for auction.  After the auction, they are put on display for the general public at the South Towne Expo Center for several days.  I volunteer as a hostess and I am assigned to a particular area to answer questions about the trees and to keep them from being damaged.  Here are some of the trees in my area.

Most of my trees were in remembrance of premature babies who had died so, when people would ask me questions, I would tear up a little bit.

This "Angel Tree" really made me emotional because all of the ornaments were in honor of children who had died.  One mother asked to find her daughter's ornament for her and take a picture of it.  What an honor!

This "Superhero" tree was probably the most popular tree of the whole festival.  It was across the aisle from me and there was always a large crowd of people around it.  After my shift was over I walked around to look at all of the other trees.  Here are some of my favorites.

My very favorite tree was this "Travel" tree!

And, of course, there was the usual BYU/Utah rivalry tree!

The Festival of Trees runs until Saturday, Dec. 5 at the South Towne Expo Center.  Go here for more information.

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.