Members of the student council at Zionsville West Middle School raised $8,000 in one week to donate to the Make-a-Wish Foundation.
Zionsville West Middle School Principal Shawn Wooden said the fundraiser is another of the council’s annual efforts to involve students in all four grades in working together to support a cause.
“It’s really exciting to know that kids and their families will be that generous for something like Make-a-Wish,” Wooden said. “I think just the sheer number of kids and families who gave something, that’s what’s even more remarkable to me.”
Wooden said the efforts were aided by word-of-mouth publicity as well as a homeroom competition, signs that were placed around the school and a notice on made on the school announcements.
“Once we put it out there, it was really just up to the student body,” Wooden said. “They really took it and ran with it. We more than quadrupled our highest total raised for any cause amongst the students.”
ZWMS teacher and student council advisor Monica Soel said the council chose to raise money for Make-a-Wish based on member votes.
“In the end, Make-a-Wish had the most votes and interest from the students because they liked the idea of kids helping kids,” Soel said. “We named our week-long fundraiser ‘Kids for a Cause’ because kids can make a difference in others’ lives.”
