“Bikeathon started ten years ago when I first came to the school. One of our students, her name was Chelsea, was in a car accident and she lost both of her grandparents and her mom and she became paraplegic. She was in the hospital for close to a year. We were wondering what we could do as a school to help out and raise her spirits. We also wanted to raise funds because although Alberta Health Care took care of the cost of her surgeries, there’s nothing out there to fund getting a ramp put in someone's house and making their house wheelchair accessible. So that was our very first fundraiser. The whole school came together to raise money so Chelsea could go home and sleep in her own bed. At that time, the event was just a one-off. We did it and it was great. Then the next day, I had grade elevens come to me and say, ‘That was cool to be part of this community event. Let’s make this something that we do annually as a proactive service.’ So I approached my admin and asked if we could have a grade twelve Leadership class with the sole purpose of organizing this annual initiative. We started it, and the kids were very excited.”

“We have entertainment on stage. Last year we had a hypnotist and we do karaoke and stuff. At 3 a.m. when everyone’s getting really tire, we do a Mario Kart tournament which gets projected on screens beside the stage. There’s also always music going so you’re never bored. There’s a lot going on and a lot of stimulation.”

“This year the charity is the Jack Davis Hope Foundation. They are a local organization run by volunteers and they help families pay for the cost associated with caring for their ill children. It might be putting a wheelchair lift in their house or something like that. We had twenty-five charities apply to Scona and the leadership team narrowed it down to four and from there we did a school-wide vote and the Jack Davis Hope Foundation won the vote.”

“For me, there’s so much more going on than the money we fundraise. What I find really exciting is the lessons the students are learning as they plan the event. You can never anticipate what sort of conversation you’ll have when you go to a company and ask for a donation—you’re essentially working like a mini-entrepreneur. When students come back and they’re super proud of themselves, it makes my day. When they see their own capacity as youth, it’s so exciting. They’re giving back, and I think it causes ripple effects. We become very close with the students we teach because we work to such a crazy capacity, so when you hear what they’re doing later on and sometimes they’ve gone on to work at some of the organizations we’ve assisted or they’re doing work around the world, it’s so cool when you hear their stories and you realize that it was maybe inspired from the time we all sat in a circle and decided what we were going to do for this fundraiser. Then they took some of their lessons and they’re teaching other people. Past students have literally contributed around the world ... and I love hearing those stories.”

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