By Maggie Dale
When the MVHS Student Council needed to raise some funds, they decided to try a different kind of fundraiser that wouldn’t cost them anything to hold – an “annoying noises” fundraiser. Each day during the passing periods, they would play a different noise or song over the intercom. These noises ranged from a high-pitched dog whistle sound to “My Heart Will Go On” on the recorder. If students and faculty donated $50 to the student council in one day, the sound wouldn’t be played for the rest of the day.
Many students were not in favor of the fundraiser. “Personally, I wasn’t a fan of the tactic at all,” said senior Laura Adrian. “It made me less inclined to donate, and I know I’m not the only one that felt this way.”
Others weren’t very bothered by the fundraiser, but worried about other students who might have problems with harsh noises. Junior Shianne Sneed said, “I didn’t mind this tactic because it didn’t bother me much, but what about the kids who have problems with noises and it bothers them so much they can’t think? An entire week of their learning is thrown off.” Sneed went on to say that the fundraiser didn’t really affect her much because she didn’t really plan on donating anyway, and if it bothered her she could just put in headphones and listen to music.
Some members of the faculty were not fans, either. “Although I applaud the student council for trying new fundraising ideas, this one wasn’t my favorite,” said English teacher and Instructional Coach Tawnua Tenley. “If the noises had all been merely annoying, I would have been fine with it. The louder, more piercing sounds were more than just annoying, they were almost painful. … I was not at all inclined to donate to this fundraiser although I usually do like to support school fundraising.”
Student council member Sydney Hauser said she and Noelle Ossenkop, who is also on student council, first came up with the idea to try this after hearing that it had worked for another school while at a student council conference in Des Moines. They had no idea if they would make any money from this fundraiser, but were optimistic about the idea. “It was definitely a bust, we didn’t even finish through the end of the week,” said Hauser. “We barely made any money and too many students and staff had complaints. Although it didn’t work, we were glad we had tried something new, considering Student Council hasn’t been super active with the school in the past,” she said.
In the end, they raised $24.12.
