Two activities recently took place in the Middle School to benefit Cycle for Survival and Charity: Water.
Cycle for Survival
Taking place in the Miller A. Bugliari '52 Athletics Center, Cycle for Survival is a voluntary community service opportunity for Grades 6, 7, and 8 that raises money for rare cancer research at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. In this cycling-and-fitness challenge, students rotated through four stations: aerobics (treadmills, stationary bicycles, and elliptical machines) and a rope pull competition in the Greig Family Strength and Conditioning Center; jump rope and beach ball volleyball in the Newhouse Family Sports Arena; and relay races (plank, wave, and over/under) in the gym's wrestling area.
This year marks Pingry's ninth time participating in this nationwide effort, coordinated by Middle School math teacher Tom Boyer P '96, '98 whose family had a relationship with Memorial Sloan Kettering and Cycle for Survival founder Jennifer Goodman Linn. "Also important, there was a need for a Middle School-specific community service opportunity that lets the students do something in-house," Mr. Boyer said. He also likes the fact that students initiate the fundraising. "They are raising funds for cancer research. It's inspiring for family members to receive an email from students, so they try to support the cause. The students have fun doing it, and it's meaningful, so the activity becomes that much more worthwhile." Students raised a total of $24,022.
Change for Change (not affiliated with the national organization of the same name)
Spare change can add up to make a difference! This project is undertaken by all eight advisory groups in Grade 7, each of whom researches various charities and selects one for which they want to raise money. The students then make a three- to five-minute presentation about their chosen charity to the entire grade (perhaps a skit, song, PowerPoint presentation, or anything else the group decides to do), and students vote for their favorite presentation. This year, the winner is the non-profit organization Charity: Water, which delivers clean and safe drinking water to people in developing countries.
"Change for Change is community service, but it is also team-building and collaboration," explained Middle School Latin teacher and Form I Team Leader Margaret Kelleher '01. "Students design their presentation and make it inclusive for the whole group—everyone in the advisory has to participate in some way." Ms. Kelleher also mentioned that, this year, the timing worked to include Grade 6 in the presentation. "They can anticipate what they will do next year, and it generates excitement about what their end result could look like."
Students began collecting money for Change for Change at the end of January, and, as of early March, they are still collecting.
Contact: Greg Waxberg '96, Communications Writer, gwaxberg@pingry.org