Some OH freshman, it seems, will do anything for a donut party.
This February, OH Freshman Seminar groups collected as many aluminum cans as possible, some donating over 100 cans a day, to win a donut party for their seminar sections. The friendly competition supported the Kendall County Animal Shelter.
“I told them at the beginning that if we were going to try to win, we had to actually commit to doing it,” said supervisor Cody Fleming, “some people went above and beyond than I thought they would.”
Fleming’s 5A class period won the drive on Thurs., Feb. 27, collecting just 50 more cans than Adam Gordon’s 4B Freshman Seminar section. Students were collecting cans from wherever they could find them. They were very resourceful throughout the competition.
From rummaging through home and school garbages to asking fellow students for cans as they finished them during lunch periods, freshman gathered as many aluminum cans as possible for the can drive.
“As of [Tue. Feb. 25,] we had a count of 541 [cans],” said English teacher and Freshman Seminar supervisor Adam Gordon. “There is a huge bag right there that might be another 100.”
Some classes were in very close competition with each other to see who could raise the most cans.
“Cody Fleming, his 5A [Freshman Seminar section], we have been neck-and-neck with them pretty much the whole time,” said Gordon. “It’s been a pretty tight race.”
So what happens with these cans? Science teacher and Panther Leader coordinator Lindsay Gustin explained how this competition was for a good cause: a fundraiser for the Kendall County Animal Shelter and good for the environment.
“[We’ll] take the cans to an aluminum center, and they get weighed,” said Gustin. “Then they get money for the aluminum that they brought in.”
In efforts to win the donut party, OH freshman to got creative in their sourcing for recycling.
“Where my dad lives, there is this recycling rule where they had to separate the cans from the actual recycling,” said freshman Aiden Lozano. “So he has this thing in his backyard where it’s like a bunch of baskets where he puts the cans.”
Lozano was motivated not only by the donut party, but also by seeing his classmates happy. “Just like seeing them get happy, [and it] makes me happy because it’s a good thing,” he added.
The large number of cans that were collected was very unexpected, but also extremely appreciated. In total, the classes collected $40 worth of cans to help out the animal shelter.
“I never really expected it to get to this point, but I’m thrilled that they’re so engaged in it,” said Gordon. “I think it is really cool.”
Participants echoed that this was a great way to get students involved and help out the community in an entertaining way.
Gustin was pleased with the outcome as well. “My goal, honestly, was to show students how you can be a part of the community by not even investing that much time and not investing any money,” she said.
Editor’s note: Freshman Seminar coordinator Lindsay Gustin reported that 2,650 total cans were collected by the can drive.
My name is Andrea and this is my first year as a 42Fifty staff reporter! I am a senior at OHS and am involved in many honor societys. I am so excited to write many stories this year.
