The Mount Vernon Middle School sixth graders held a pancake dinner for the community on Feb. 13 in the high school commons, from 5 to 7 p.m. The event was organized as a part of a class project to raise money for families and people in the district. Tickets cost $5. Many community members came out to enjoy breakfast for dinner while helping a good cause.
To make the dinner known to people in the community, the students were given tickets to hand out, sell, and spread the word. Many students went with friends to walk around town, talk to neighbors, family members, and other friends to get them to show up. “We walked around town and sold tickets to people after school,” said sixth grader Andrew Smith. Some students made it a competition to see how many tickets they could sell before the deadline. Because they were told that the top three ticket sellers got a prize. “I was so excited because I got a blizzard for selling the second most tickets out of everyone,” said Smith.
All of the sixth grade students participated in the dinner. The event was organized into eight different 30-minute shifts to ensure everyone in the grade had a role and that the work was shared fairly. “The first shift just set everything up so that the other shifts could hand food out,” said Smith. “And the last shift takes everything down, and cleans it all up.” Teachers were there to help supervise, but the students were responsible for most of the work. The students took their roles very seriously and surprised their teachers by how they handled it.
Every other shift in between those two had a variety of different tasks to do, including, handing out pancakes, apple sauce, and sausages, giving people trays, handing out different drinks, picking up trays, and walking around to give refills of water and food. “I flipped pancakes and helped by putting them on people’s trays,” said Smith. “Some of my friends handed out water and food while I was doing that too.”
When things got busy students worked together which helped keep the event running smoothly.
“I filled up water cups with ice and water and handed them out to people,” said Ricky Ryan.
Many people complimented the sixth graders on their politeness and teamwork. This fundraiser gave students an opportunity to learn responsibility all while helping out and giving back to the community as well. Being given 30 minute shifts each ensures that all of the students stay focused and have fun during the shift. As well as making sure that the whole event runs smoothly. “I learned how to work with some people I hadn’t ever worked with before,” said Ryan. “We learned a lot about teamwork.”
The dinner was a place for people from the community to come sit, talk, and enjoy a meal together. All while supporting the school. This event shows just how simple it can be to put a small effort in and make a difference, for the students, and the community that attended.
