The Horace Mann Elementary School Student Council has held yet another successful fund-raising event, contributing $465 to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.
Three eighth grade Student Council members organized a “Teacher Talent Show” on March 23 that brought together hundreds of teachers, faculty, and students in an effort to raise money for breast cancer research and awareness. Roughly 225 students and visitors crowded the Horace Mann auditorium to cheer on the school’s teacher and staff performances underneath the spotlight.
Student council members Waira Uribe, Gail Cevallos and Skylan Riedweg first conceived the idea after hearing an announcement that the North Bergen High School had recently held their own teacher talent show.
“They organized an activity that took a lot of time and a lot of effort.” – Karen Riser
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After formulating a plan for the event, the students then brought the idea to their council moderator, Karen Riser, who told them to present it to Principal Richard Locricchio.
“From there, the students basically took over,” said Riser, who performed a “Who’s on First?” Abbott and Costello comedy bit in the show. “If they had any questions, they were to come to me, but they never did.”
A $2 admission fee was charged for tickets, and snacks were sold in a price range from 25 to 75 cents.
Uribe expressed that the organization of the event was “stressful” from the start, but well worth it in the end.
“There was a lot of back and forth to get things [together],” said Uribe, “but it all worked out really well.”
Both Locricchio and Riser expressed their satisfaction with how well the students were able to organize the fundraising event.
“We had a great turnout,” said Locricchio. “It went very well. The students were very happy with it.”
“I was amazed,” said Riser, who also teaches eighth grade science. “I’m so proud of their leadership skills that came out during the whole process.”
“They put it together all on their own and I’m very proud of the three of them,” Riser continued. “They organized an activity that took a lot of time and a lot of effort.”
Students cheer on their teachers
A large portion of the student body filed into their school auditorium to witness their teachers and faculty let down their hair on a late Friday afternoon.
“The teachers did a great job,” said Locricchio. “They were enthusiastic about it and very happy to participate.”
Teacher performances included song and dance numbers, monologues, rap songs, comedy sketches, an Indian cultural dance, and more.
“They all had these talents that we didn’t know about,” said Uribe. “There were a lot more [participants] than we expected.”
“We had a lot of fun watching the faculty perform for once, instead of the students,” said Cevallos.
Multiple successes
Locricchio said that the Student Council has organized successful fundraising events several times throughout the year.
“They actually have done this all year long,” said Locricchio. “They constantly come up with ideas for me. Sometimes we need to tweak them a little, but they’ve done a great job of putting together things that both the students and staff enjoy, as well as a lot of fundraising for different charities.”
Locricchio said that the Student Council held a student-teacher volleyball game in February, and also organized a clothes drive for the victims of the North Bergen fire on Broadway in January. Earlier in the year, they held a “Pennies for Patients” fundraiser for leukemia, as well as various school dances for fifth and sixth graders.
“They do a very good job of presenting ideas and making them workable,” said Locricchio.
Stephen LaMarca may be reached at slamarca@hudsonreporter.com.