Occasionally a teacher has been auctioned off for as much as 100 tickets (about $10) to get a pie in the face at Roselle’s Medinah Middle School Winter Benefit Day.
Some kids pay money to throw wet sponges at teachers and students in the locker room. Some prefer to spend their money hitting golf balls to loud music and strobe lights in the music room.
It’s all in the name of helping others. For more than 20 years now, Medinah’s 6th through 8th graders have spent part of December preparing for the winter afternoon when they can take a break.
Year-long advisory groups made up of a teacher and about 15 students from the three grade levels dispense with their usual problem-solving and team-building activities to select a carnival game. They set up a booth, arrange a work schedule and come up with prices and prizes.
Then on Winter Benefit Day (Dec. 19 this year), the whole school works and plays, spending their money to raise funds for a charity.
This year’s benefit is for the Sickle Cell Anemia Foundation, said Hilary Carlson, physical education teacher in charge of the Student Council.
In past years they have raised more than $1,000 in an afternoon.
“This is a tradition we all look forward to,” Carlson said. “The students do all the planning, the setup, cleanup, and sell the lunches. It’s fun, and it’s for a good cause.”
