MSHS Students Help Make A Dream Come True
April 9, 2018
Manitou Springs High School Student Council organized Wish Week this week, consisting of five school days worth of activities leading up to the Spring Dance on Saturday. These activities all revolved around making one kid’s dream come true.
Jackson is six years old and is diagnosed with Leukemia. The Make A Wish Foundation reached out to MSHS in hopes of raising money for Jackson’s Wish: to travel to Hawaii with his family. There, he hopes to see volcanoes, swim in the ocean, and play on the beach with his baby sister. In order to make his dream come true, the Mustangs put together a week’s worth of exciting fundraisers.
To kick off the week, an assembly was hosted in the new gym where a video of Jackson was showed to the school. In the clip, Jackson spoke about a few of his favorite things, including Minecraft, McDonald’s chicken nuggets, and watching his turtle. “Lots of things have changed since I’ve been diagnosed with cancer. I have to get needles poked into me so I can feel better,” he said in the video. Although his condition is tragic, Jackson still has hope, now more than ever because of the students of Manitou Springs. “I think young people can change the world by being nice to each other and taking care of the planet,” said Jackson, ending the video by giving a final thanks to his audience. Afterwards, Student Council encouraged students to chuck change at them as they stood with helmets on with buckets ready to catch the coins. The coins were then collected and put towards Jackson’s wish.
Tuesday got physical with a student dodgeball tournament. It was $3 to participate and StuCo collected even more donations throughout the night. Seven teams made of six players signed up and competed. The whole event was overseen by William Brown and Ken Vecchio. The teams consisted of athletes from almost every sport, which increased the competitiveness of the games. By the end of the night, a team with multiple baseball players called Mound Boyz came out as the final winners of the tournament.
Wednesday was World Language and Culture Night, which was a huge project for all the students in a language class. The crowd was immersed in culture through performances by the high school language classes, choir, an African drum circle, and finally, a Mariachi band. While the band played their final song, the crowd had the opportunity to participate in a Miracle Minute. For one minute, Student Council walked through the bleachers and collected change from the audience after introducing their cause and encouraging people to donate to help Jackson.
Thursday was arguably the most awaited event of the entire week. MSHS’ rival school– CSCS– had their staff travel to Manitou to play against the MSHS staff in a head-to-head basketball game. The rivalry between CSCS and Manitou goes way back, yet the two came together for a friendly game to raise money for Jackson’s Wish. Tons of students from both schools filled each side of the bleachers and cheered their teams on. Everyone was ecstatic to see their teachers play, and with each basket came a huge cheer from the stands. The game was close, but it was Manitou who persisted, winning 56-53 after an intense finish. At the buzzer, Mustang supporters went crazy and filled the gym floor to congratulate the staff on their victory. The next night, the school hosted an Adult Soiree where childcare was offered and admittance was $10 for parents to attend.
Saturday night, St. Patrick’s day, was the final night of Wish Week. Like most other spirit weeks, the dance was the end of an incredible week of events. The admittance was $10, which was collected for Jackson, and students joined their friends in the gym for a wild night of dancing.
In total, the Mustangs were successful in raising over $2,000 for Jackson’s Wish through spirit-filled events to promote kindness and make one kid’s dream become reality.
