Central fundraiser fills gymnasium stands
By Jason Arndt
Editor
Westosha Central High School students often fill the stands and cheer on their boys basketball team while the band plays multiple song ensembles during games.
But with COVID-19, which has seen crowd sizes diminished due to capacity limits, the bleachers in Westosha Central’s gymnasium has been more empty than usual during the 2020-21 winter sports season, including boys basketball contests.
Although there have been some attendance restrictions, Westosha Central students drew inspiration from Major League Baseball games, where teams such as the Milwaukee Brewers invited fans to submit cardboard cutouts of themselves to fill the former Miller Park now known as American Family Field.
Last weekend, during two boys basketball games, the images of 87 people on cutouts filled the gymnasium and comes courtesy of Tom Neave’s Sports and Entertainment Marketing class.
Neave, who teaches the class annually, said the idea came from his students who looked to use the idea as a fundraiser to benefit Hoops for Hope.
Hoops for Hope, part of the Jimmy V Foundation, raises funds for cancer research.
“It was really fun to do it as a class and work together to do something really good for students and it was a good cause,” said senior Madelyne Slutsky.
Slutsky and her classmates, however, only had about a week and half to bring the fundraiser to fruition because the class didn’t begin until late January.
The students, in spite of time constraints, put a full-court press on the fundraiser through lunch time sales of cardboard cutouts priced at $5 for a small and $10 for a large cutout.
Additionally, the class used social media, posting an online link for community members to purchase their own cutouts.
“We all worked together in selling them during lunch,” said Slutsky, who credited school faculty members and their family for pitching in.
“They were on it right away and some even involved their family.”
The fundraiser, according to Neave, brought in $1,000 for Hoops for Hope, with about $500 coming from sales and the rest through a matching grant from school store, the Falcons Nest.
Collaborative effort
Neave, meanwhile, said he typically teaches the class during the fall semester.
Because of scheduling, the class couldn’t be offered until this spring, but students were not deterred.
Upon a student proposing the idea, he went to colleague Garrett Pongratz, who teaches in the school’s Graphics Department.
“He does all sorts of really cool things down there with laser printing, engraving and stickers,” said Neave.
The project also received support from the band, which often plays during basketball games, according to Neave.
“We have got some band kids, we got the band set up over there,” said Neave pointing the stands at Westosha Central on Feb. 20. “We have got some parents, we have got some community, students and staff to participate in it.”
The cardboard cutout project, like previous activities such as Bash on the Grass held last year, usually comes with a fundraiser.
The students, he said, decided on Hoops for Hope because it raises funds for cancer research.
“We usually donate money to charity, so we asked students what was important to them,” he said. “We decided on a group called Hoops for Hope and it is part of the Jimmy V Foundation.”