Generosity is something Prior Lake did well last November.
Prior Lake High School raised nearly $8000 in support of the ALS Foundation and the Bulver family (Brad Bulver is a Prior Lake staff alum who was recently diagnosed with ALS).
However, raising money is no easy feat. Asking someone to give without expecting anything in return is, as choir director Rob Hahn puts it, “That’s a hard sell.”
Chris Gaudette, an AP Government and Politics teacher at Prior Lake, also shares the sentiment.
“What happens when we raise money is kids are really excited to donate right away, then it tails off,” he said.
Of course, Prior Lake was up to the challenge of keeping the donations coming.
The choir department heads Hahn and Randi Erlandson created a tier system; for every x amount of money raised, a raffle would be held for small prizes.
“Mrs. Erlandson and I both have hobbies that are creation-based,” said Hahn. “She does crochet and blankets and that kind of stuff and I do woodworking. So cribbage boards, cutting boards, all those kinds of things.”
While the choir department offers students a chance at something useful beyond the classroom, Gaudette offers mementos from their high school days. Things like a picture of himself, pictures of other teachers, pocket constitutions, and authentic Mr. Mestnik broken yardsticks.
“I basically just sold junk out of my desk,” Gaudette said. “It worked, and it was kinda humorous.”
It was a joke that worked well for seniors, as many can now be spotted carrying pictures of calculus teacher Mr. Bier in the backs of their iPad cases.
Teachers weren’t the only ones finding clever ways to raise money, as students also put their minds to the test to raise more and more.
“We’ve got kids getting creative now,” said Hahn, “and saying if I give a couple hundred bucks, but if I give it through my mom’s work, her work will match that donation dollar for dollar. So 200 dollars became 400 dollars.”
Students also became business-minded hosting a bake sale out in the commons.
“So rather than giving 200 bucks, he bought 200 bucks worth of stuff. They went out and sold it for 500 bucks, and then was able to make that donation,” said Hahn.
On top of that, students could sell products cheaper than the cafe.
“It’s brilliant,” said Hahn. “Only has to be 50 cents cheaper to still be the better deal.”
Gaudette also came up with an interesting way to increase student donations; voting on his beard.
Gaudette allowed the hour who donated the most to vote on how he would shave his No Shave beard at the end of the month. There have been many beard styles; from a half-face beard, to dying it blue, Gaudette has built up quite a collection of different beards.
This year, Gaudette’s class has raised enough money that he won’t shave his beard until senior graduation.
“I don’t know how much longer I can keep doing it,” Gaudette said, “cause I really wanted to shave.”
Humor or usefulness aside, it’s no surprise that with their clever incentives, the choir department and Mr. Gaudette raised roughly 98% of the school’s funds.
It just goes to show how a little creativity can do some good.
