Summer is something that most students spend the whole year dreaming about. Even the most studious among Mount Carmel can not wait for school to end and for break to start.
At MC, the annual Walkathon fundraiser provides the opportunity for school to end a week earlier than usual, and students need to step up to get these incentives.
Rewards such as half-day Fridays are given to the students if they reach fundraising benchmarks in order to make them more enthusiastic about raising money. In recent years, all of the incentives have been earned, so students don’t really know how bad the end of the school year can be without the half days and week off. And students should not have to learn that the hard way. By stepping up and getting the money in, everyone’s life can be a lot easier.
Also, all of this money goes to various things in the school that everyone takes for granted. Many students have scholarships that are in part paid for by the money raised by the Walkathon Fundraiser every year. Moreover, even the students who are not directly getting scholarships are still getting a discount because it costs MC more money to educate the students than the school charges for tuition. MC needs this money to fill in a gap in the budget.
Additionally, it’s not like it’s just another bill for the parents to pay. If all of the students went around and got small donations from a few people, it would not be that hard to meet their goal.
Currently, there are about two hundred MC students who have raised nothing for our Walkathon goal. The collective students are 78% of the way there already, and if the rest of the student body got their money in then they could not just meet the overall goal but get all of the incentives as well.
“Almost everyone in the building has experienced exams getting moved up and us getting out at 1:30 pm,” said Mr. John Stimler, “which has only happened two years that we have done this. This has never happened before the last two years, which makes it tough that people think that this just happens, when it doesn’t always happen. It might take a year where we don’t get it and we are in regular school for the rest of the year for people to realize that this really sucks.”
The students are not the only ones who really enjoy the half days and a week off. All the benefits for the students are also for the teachers as well. They would be really unhappy if for the first time ever the student body failed to get half-day Fridays.
“That would be miserable,” said Mr. Stimler. “Some long-term teachers, I think class will become unbearable with them if we don’t get half-day Fridays. We are going to turn up the pain on students if we don’t get half-day Fridays.”
At least one teacher backs this up.
“I’ve been telling students every year I’ve been here,” says English teacher Mr. Tim Baffoe, “if I’m here on days we’d otherwise have off, you will really not enjoy class that day.”
The senior class has an interesting relationship with the incentives in that they won’t be here to experience most of them. With graduation being before the end of school, it has traditionally been a struggle to get the senior class to get their money in. That has surprisingly changed this year, though.
“Some guys have done phenomenal work,” said Mr. Stimler. “I mean, the senior class has done a really good job. They are doing a nice job of getting their money in.”
The Walkathon does a lot to support the school as well. Students are raising money not for others but for themselves.
“As a senior, MC has done so much for me,” said Joe Chirillo ‘24. “I have been lucky enough to receive multiple scholarships that have made it easier for my family to send me here. I have thoroughly enjoyed all four years here and am happy to give back. I’ve always felt that it is important to help those who have helped you and I think more students should have this attitude about MC.”
It’s not just students who are raising money for Walkathon either. Most parents will help spread the message and many alumni donate to different pages to help the school.
“This school fundraiser is a great way to bring all of the MC community together,” said junior Aydin Provost, the one of the top student fundraisers. “It lets alumni, students, and parents work towards a common goal to support the school and the students’ education. Donating to this fundraiser is a direct way to help the school give the students a better environment.”
It’s important that students and family know that this isn’t just another bill for them to pay from MC. Each student is encouraged to meet the goal of raising $150. As Math teacher Mr. Jamel Williams likes to spin it, that’s like asking fifteen people you know for ten dollars. =
Even though two hundred students have raised no money, MC is nearly three-fourths of the way to the goal. Those who have done their part did it really well. It’s time for the rest of the student body to step up and get their money in because, really, who wants to be in school in June?
