Eston School’s Terry Fox run raises $7,402
By Joan Janzen
Students and staff at Eston Composite School’s Terry Fox Run raised an astounding $7,402, almost triple the amount they raised last year ($2,651)! Not only did they triple the amount, but they had three times as much fun while doing it, thanks to the ingenuity of the school’s staff.
Grade 4 teacher, Erin Trytten, coordinated the fundraiser and wanted to spark some excitement and passion in the students. During a school-wide assembly on September 6th, she set the school’s very lofty goal at $10,000, but that’s not all.
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“I challenged them with some incentives. If they raised $5,000, I promised I would dye my hair Mustang red and black (the school colours),” Erin said. And if they raised $10,000, she promised to shave her head!
A few days passed, and no donations were received, so Erin reached out to the staff to see how they could further inspire the students. In response, four teachers volunteered to get pied in the face by students who fundraiser $200 or more. It proved to be just the type of inspiration the students needed because fifteen students reached the $200 goal by the fundraiser’s end! To give everyone an opportunity to donate, the school held two hat days and two pyjama days, where each student paid $2.00 to participate.
Students and staff participated in the Terry Fox Walk on Friday, September 16th, completing a lap around town. High school and middle school students paired up with elementary grade students, which made for a fun walk.
By September 16th, they had raised over $5,000. It was a huge milestone, and just as promised, Erin had a local hairdresser come to the school on Monday afternoon to dye her hair black and red.
Not only did the students participate in the run, but Mrs. James taught the Grade 6 class about Terry Fox and the Marathon of Hope. Students composed poems, which were printed inside an outline of an image of Terry Fox. And the Grade 4 class created a collaborative art piece featuring Terry Fox.
The following Monday, September 20th, at a school assembly, four teachers (including Erin) got pied in the face with whipping cream. It was evident that there’s nothing better than students having fun smashing whipped cream into teachers’ faces! Although they didn’t reach the $10,000 mark, they almost tripled last year’s amount, and Mrs. Trytten was able to keep her new hair!