Throughout the 2013-14 school year, Crown Point High School students and faculty members partnered with the Crown Point Community Foundation to raise money and volunteer for local charities/non-profit groups. Students and faculty sponsors from six different CPHS clubs and organizations worked with specific organizations to raise money and volunteer their time to a non-profit of their choice.
Pat Huber and Ben Ballou of the Crown Point Community Foundation collaborated with CPHS Assistant Principal Russ Marcinek to coordinate the project. The goals of the initiative are to provide philanthropic opportunities for Crown Point High School students, assist local non-profit groups and organizations, cultivate a sense of volunteerism and community activism in CPHS students, and generate a lasting partnership between Crown Point High School and the Crown Point Community Foundation. The partnership is now in its second year.
Student clubs and organizations involved in the project included:
Key Club – sponsored by Heidi Polizotto – paired with Rebuilding Together of NW Indiana
Interact Club – sponsored by Brooke Yeager – partnered with NW Indiana Cancer Kids
National Honor Society – sponsored by Amanda Campos – partnered with St. Jude House
Student Council – sponsored by Collette Nicolini and Colleen Fano – partnered with Riley’s Children’s Hospital and NW Indiana Relay for Life
Each of these clubs held and sponsored different fundraising and volunteer efforts to raise money and create awareness. Some examples include a Color Run, Dance Marathon, CPHS Student-Teacher Olympics, and a Mardi Gras Carnival and Halloween Party for community children. As a result of their efforts, students raised approximately $5,200 dollars for these organizations. The Crown Point Community Foundation then donated an additional $4000 to raise the total to $9200. The checks were presented to these organizations by each club and the Community Foundation on Friday, May 30 at CPHS (picture attached).
“The Student-Teacher Olympics are fun for everybody involved,” Interact Club Sponsor Brooke Yeager said. “It gives the kids a chance to see the teachers outside the classroom.”
Lily Kapitan, a junior at Crown Point High School, is a member of Key Club, whose members chose to support Rebuilding Together of NW Indiana. “We liked knowing that we are helping to provide a warm and safe house for somebody in our own community,” Kapitan said.
In addition to the fundraising efforts of these four clubs, two more clubs created volunteer-based partnerships with local non-profit groups in 2013-14. C.A.S.S. (Creating a Safe School), sponsored by Ami Marcinek, partnered with St. Clair Health Clinic of Crown Point and held food and clothing drives while the National Art Honor Society, sponsored by Lyndsey Sadler, paired with South Shore Arts to allow CPHS Art students the opportunity to volunteer at the South Shore Arts in Crown Point.