By Claire Pomer, Harwood Union correspondent
Last week on Thursday, May 15, the Harwood seventh graders hosted their second annual walk-a-thon. Proceeds from this year’s event will benefit three charities: Ocean Conservancy, Ukraine Children’s Aid Fund, and For the Love of Dogs Vermont.
The students had worked on this for three weeks before the event in collaboration with two of their teachers, Meredith Vaughn and Sarah Ibson. Half of each of their Social Studies and English classes were set aside to plan for the walk-a-thon. Students chose to join one of seven committees dedicated to planning a certain aspect of the event: education, raffle, sponsorships, site planning, website, social media, and publishing.
The education committee created posters detailing each of the charities that the walk-a-thon is sponsoring. Early on in the walk-a-thon planning process, students brainstormed a list of charities that the event could support. They picked a charity from that list and created a presentation arguing that it should become a recipient of the funds. After the presentations, the students voted on three charities to support: Ocean Conservancy, which removes millions of pounds of trash from the oceans each year; Ukraine Children’s Aid Fund, which provides shelter, food, and medicine to Ukrainian children; and For the Love of Dogs Vermont, a Waitsfield-based organization that rescues dogs from Vermont and the South.
The raffle committee planned and acquired items for the raffle that was held during the event. Students reached out to local businesses after brainstorming where they might get raffle prizes. “Local businesses are very generous,” said Student A, who was part of the committee. The raffle included prizes from Canteen Creemee, Stowe St. Emporium, RK Miles, The Mad Taco, and a homework pass for one of the middle school math teachers. All proceeds from the raffle support the three causes.
The sponsorship committee tackled the money needed for necessary items at the walk-a-thon, such as food, beverages, and supplies. They reached out to local businesses and community members to raise money.
The site planning committee controlled “logistics,” as one student put it, along with materials and decorations. The whiteboards that the middle schoolers used to track the number of laps for each grade were borrowed from their teachers, and students on this committee also emailed teachers around the school to borrow supplies such as easels and tables.
The website committee designed and created the website for the walk-a-thon using Google Sites. “It was confusing at first,” said Student B, “but we figured out how to use it.”
The social media committee created social media posts to advertise the event. Using Canva, an online graphic design platform, they designed a post for the Harwood Boosters Instagram account, which hosts information about and gets students excited for many types of Harwood events, including sports games and school dances. The advertising committee promoted the event. Students on this committee spoke at school assemblies and lunches, over the school loudspeaker, and one student submitted an article for local newspapers.
The walk-a-thon took place during the afternoon. Students paid a suggested fee of $1 to enter and logged each of their laps by grade. The grade with the most laps will win 150 Spirit Points, which determine the winner of Spirit Week, and the grade with the most donations will win up to 200 Spirit Points.
