News Briefs: Catch up on school and local news

The Class of 1973 is running the first class fundraiser for SHARE

The Class of 1973 is running a November fundraiser for SHARE’s Uplift project benefitting Kansas City’s homeless population.

Class reunions have donated to the school for renovations and support services in the past, but never to the SHARE program directly. The alumni fundraiser started in October and has collected $2,400 so far to fund tents and solar heat lamps that will be distributed by student volunteers through Uplift this month. 

“The Class of 1973 wanted to give money to SHARE but have the funds help the population outside of East too,” SHARE Coordinator Erin Billingsley said. “That’s why they decided to focus on the Uplift project after talking with the student executives. It’s great that people are recognizing SHARE as something to donate to and not just a program to volunteer through.” 

Class of 1973 alumni John Tompkins, Marie Haake and Patty Slentz-Howard are coordinating donations through the Punchbowl site after learning about SHARE in October. They were on a tour of the school in anticipation of a reunion that happened to be on the same day as the SHARE Care Fair.

“We ended up looking around for 45 minutes and didn’t even get halfway around the displays of volunteering opportunities,” Slentz-Howard said. “I was so impressed by the students.”

Uplift is a nonprofit providing mobile street outreach to the homeless by taking four vans loaded with food, clothing and other essential supplies to downtown four nights a week. According to Community Outreach Director Amy Cox, they serve 250-400 people each night with the mission of showing compassion to unhoused individuals living on the streets, in the woods or in their cars. 

“Winter is an essential time to serve individuals without housing,” Cox said. “We provide food and other basic essentials, which keep people alive in the winter months.”

Students can sign up to volunteer at Uplift at their website uplift.org/volunteer.

“Hopefully this will inspire other class reunions behind us,” Howard-Slentz said. “It’s great to see students being leaders and taking care of others in our area and beyond.”

The MORP dance on Dec. 1 will raise money for charity

Student Council is hosting the “cartoon heroes versus cartoon villains”-themed MORP dance from 7-9 p.m. on Dec. 1 in the cafeteria.

Tickets will be sold for $10 cash or online payment outside of StuCo sponsor and history teacher Brenda Fishman’s room before and after school and during lunch the week before the dance. All proceeds benefit the Johnson County Christmas Bureau.

“We’re going to put fans in there so that it doesn’t get too hot and take all the precautions to expect maximum capacity,” Student Body President and senior Jack Kessler said. “I’d say there was a lack of publicity last year, but we still sold over 100 tickets.”

Kessler hopes StuCo will sell at least 600 tickets this year. Ten “lucky tickets” sold within the first 500 tickets will be stamped with a Lancer and can be exchanged for a $10 Chipotle gift card, according to Fishman.

“We’ll provide food like chips and Rice Krispie squares,” Fishman said. “It’s just a mixer so you don’t need to get fancy or go out to an expensive dinner before.”

Social Committee Chair senior Anna Thelen is currently selecting backdrops and decorations for the event to fit the theme.

“A group of seniors came up to me last year after MORP and said they had a lot of fun and expressed regret that they missed MORP for the pandemic in past years,” Kessler said. “That’s one of my motivations to keep it going.”

National Honor Society officer electees will be announced at the Induction Ceremony on Nov. 29

Next year’s National Honor Society officers will be announced at the Induction Ceremony at 6 p.m. on Nov. 29 in the auditorium with changes from last year. 

Voting for the four officers closed on Nov. 7 for NHS juniors. Typically the induction ceremony is held in late March, according to NHS Officer and senior Autumn Sun, but this year it was moved earlier.

“Last spring, a lot of candidates were too busy with activities and had to miss the event,” Sun said. “We decided that right now is a better time because winter sports are just starting up and there’s less going on.”

Another change this year is the addition of a reception for inductees and their families with cake after the ceremony, held in the cafeteria with formal dress code.

“It’s fun to be able to celebrate induction instead of just being inducted and going home like in past years,” NHS Officer senior Millie Norden said. “About 160 people applied, and everybody who applied got in.”