Make-A-Wish Week Summary
Take a look at the great success that was Make-A-Wish week.
Participants react to the current score standings at the end of the round.
April 18, 2022
Fossil Ridge High School had its annual Make-A-Wish week starting April 3 through April 8, 2022. This year’s week was for the benefit of Reece, an eleven-year-old who is diagnosed with leukemia. The goal was to raise at least $5,000 so Reece could visit Legoland in the near future, however, Fossil upped the target to $7,500.
The week started very strong with an incredibly generous donation of one-thousand dollars from Dutch Bros. Coffee. In addition to the daily school-sponsored events, spirit days were held. Some of these themes were geared towards Reece, to make him feel included in the process, and some were focused on the high school age audience to encourage more participation from students.
Bleeding into the weekend, Sunday was an outstanding night of bowling at Chipper’s Horsetooth Lanes. This event was hosted by Fossil’s National Honor Society (NHS) and TriM, also known as, the Modern Music Masters. This event raised a large sum of money from the get-go adding up to over $2,000 before the week had even begun. Reece, the wish kid, and his mother, Trista, attended the bowling night and participated in all the festivities. Some students showed off their creativity and coordinated themes within their groups. Everything considered Chipper’s Lanes was a great kick-off to what was a very successful Make-A-Wish week.
Reece’s favorite color is red, so it was only right that a ‘Red out for Reece’ was chosen as the theme for Monday. The school was a sea of red from the start of the day, all the way until the end, with hundreds of students showing out in their attire. From 5:00 to 9:30 p.m., students were invited to a restaurant night hosted by BJ’s Brewhouse. Reece and his family, once again, made an appearance to enjoy some food with many Fossil students and their families.
Tuesday was a fun-filled day that began with the creative theme of Grease (the 1970s movie) vs. Greece (the nation). Many students dug out leather jackets to complete their “Greaser” outfits, while others used bedsheets, pins, and sandals to execute their Greek toga look. Some even went as far as putting on ivy crowns to add to their Greek god or goddess look. The night ended with an electric Cornhole tournament held in the commons from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. Many teams competed in the string of games with a large sum of money going into Make-A-Wish.
The theme for Wednesday was, arguably, the theme that students were the most excited about: ‘anything but a backpack’ day. Students all around the school got incredibly creative to make this theme as fun as possible, bringing items that I had never seen before. Some people went the simple route and brought tote bags, grocery bags, and trash bags while other peers went the extra mile and brought much bigger items. This included, and was not limited to, actual shopping carts, baskets, bicycles, dollies, wheelbarrows, kayaks, and even grills. Surprisingly, some students went as far as bringing their small mobile scooters into the building, riding them through the halls. After the fun festivities of ‘anything but a backpack’ day, students were excited for movie night, showing The Wizard of Oz which was held at Cinemark 6. Overall, the day was a great success.
Thursday was ‘crazy hat day.’ The Fossil Marching Band coordinated their crazy hats, which happened to be the uniform hats they wore this past marching season. Multiple Dr. Seuss hats were spotted throughout the halls, along with Santa hats, bike helmets, and many other ideas. Thursday was capped off with a very eventful dodgeball tournament in the big gym. This event was hosted by NHS, and it was the first dodgeball tournament that had taken place since before COVID-19, so needless to say, many NHS members were excited to be there and were stoked to see so much school spirit. Spectators were encouraged to wear ‘Red for Reece’ and support any friends that were competing, which provided a great atmosphere for the tournament.
Make-A-Wish week came to a close on Friday starting the day with the theme of ‘Adam Sandler, who is Reece’s favorite actor. Students wore oversized shirts and baggy, ankle-length basketball shorts with typical dad shoes. To put Make-A-Wish week to an end, Trivia Night was held in the commons from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. In total, 37 teams competed in this ‘Red Carpet’ themed event. Participants dressed in prom dresses, pajamas, and everything in between. Journalism students played paparazzi for the night, snapping photos while the participants walked down the carpet before the event began. This was a great way to end a very successful week that allowed for so much participation among Fossil.
All in all, Make-A-Wish week raised over ten thousand dollars for Reece, the exact amount being $10,066, which is a phenomenal success for our community and shows the immense amount of culture and unity that Fossil shares. With the six events that were held during the week, the donation table at lunch, and Miracle Minutes, $5,700 was raised from our student body and staff. The rest of the money came from donations from the families of Fossil members and many other charitable sources. This incredibly rewarding week has shown how close the Fossil Family truly is and what can be accomplished by a community like ours.
