Orchestra & Choir Fundraisers

Written by Autumn Underwood

Orchestra and choir students organized fundraisers to make money for each club. Fundraisers can be entertaining for the students as they distribute the items they are selling. Fundraisers give students an opportunity to have fun and meet new people as they raise money to help their club.

Mr. Colakovic is the choir teacher and ran the choir fundraiser this year. The fundraiser of selling cookie dough and other snacks was to replenish the choir account after buying 1,000 dollars worth of t-shirts. When the Music Department goes on trips, they need to be able to pay for transportation and lunches or other necessities. If there are tickets that need to be bought, they want to be flexible and have funds available. Attending ISSMA Solo and Ensemble costs money and they need to be able to be prepared for it. Students ask friends, relatives, co-workers, and others if they would like to help the choir. People don’t think about it like buying something, instead they think about it like helping the choir. Fundraisers are accommodating. Those friends that help can buy online and can have their items shipped to their home or they fill out the back of a brochure and items get shipped to the school.  The money goes directly to the choir account, then the company sends the department a bill for how much is owed. Half the money goes back to the company while the other half stays at the school. Then raised about 6,500 dollars. Mr. Colakovic said, “That was my first time doing a fundraiser and it was a really cool experience.”

Ms. Edwards is the orchestra teacher and ran the orchestra fundraiser this year. The fundraisers are done through the String Music Boosters and the money goes to supporting the orchestra in different ways. Students sold different kinds of chocolate covered pretzels from October 12th to October 24th with a 50% profit from each box. The profits go to the individual student accounts, meaning students can use the money for Fun Fair* or other supplies. There was no competition; participants from MIS, Pierce, and the high school engaged collectively. They raised 7,000 dollars. Besides student supplies the money goes towards the highschoolers going on a trip to Universal Studios. 10 cases were sold from MIS, 17 cases were sold from Pierce, and 33 from the high school. Making  240 cases sold in total.

* The Fun Fair had activities, such as bounce houses, dunk tanks, carnival games, food, fire trucks, and Quinlan & Fabish Music Company. A lot of people thought it was successful and enjoyable because more people attended than expected.

Facts about Thanksgiving

Written by Malia Arce

According to History.com, Thanksgiving is a holiday where people would “give thanks” to one another. It originally started when people, best known as Pilgrims, were aboard a ship known as the Mayflower. When they finally made it to land away from Europe, they weren’t prepared for what was coming. Many of the Pilgrims had gotten sick from their first winter and some even died due to the conditions.

When spring had finally come and the Pilgrims population was lessened, they soon met a person named Squanto. He had helped them learn how to grow crops and also learn how to hunt for food as well. When  the Pilgrims became successful, they had invited the Native Americans in for a feast to celebrate what was accomplished.

Here are some facts about Thanksgiving: 

(According to both the educational travel website, worldstrides.com, and the lifestyle website, bestlifeonline.com)

• The first Thanksgiving was held way back in 1621 and had lasted for about three days.

• Turkey wasn’t the original traditional food for Thanksgiving. It had started off with food like duck, goose, fish, cranberries, pumpkin, etc.

• About 704 million pounds of turkey is eaten each year during Thanksgiving.

• When “Jingle Bells” was written, it was originally supposed to be a Thanksgiving song instead of a Christmas song.

• During Thanksgiving, most people who travel go to Orlando, Florida more than anywhere else.