Yet another year of the Key Club sponsored “teacher dares” have rolled around. With all proceeds going towards research for Leukemia and Lymphoma, “Pennies for Patients” run by The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of New Jersey is a program that allows students to raise money for this cause in an extremely fun yet unconventional way.
In the media center, students have the opportunity to place spare change in individual boxes assigned to a teacher. Each teacher and their corresponding box denotes a dare they have volunteered themselves for. The teacher who receives the most donations actually follows through and completes their dare! As in previous years, multiple teachers have volunteered with their own outlandish ideas.
Mr. Kaplan, who advises the Key Club and oversees the event states, “Teacher Dares is a way for us to come together as a community to support the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of New Jersey while being a little outlandish and silly. It allows students to see their favorite teachers do something silly and it allows teachers to have some light-hearted fun by thinking up goofy dares and, for the lucky winner, carrying that dare out!”
This year, Mr. O’Brien has volunteered to sing the national anthem at a spring sport game wearing a red, white, and blue suit, Mr. Kaplan has stated he’ll learn and perform a tik tok dance of students choosing, and Mr. Koch will wear a dress all day in school.
Additionally, Mrs. Snyder has volunteered to dye her hair purple, and Ms. Crisman says if she wins she will dress in all white like a canvas and let students paint on her. These are just some of the many unique dares staff members have signed up for.
Fourteen teachers have volunteered, each with their own wacky idea. In previous years, teachers have gotten spray tans, brought race cars to school- and once, Dr. Neigel was duct taped to the cafeteria wall for multiple lunch periods.
There is no doubt that “Pennies for Patients” has become one of the most highly anticipated school events of the year. Mr. Ka- plan elaborated, “I think Teacher Dares is so popular with students and teachers because there are so many degrees to which people can be involved. For some, it is as intense as organizing, setting up, monitoring the com- petition, and tallying the results, whereas for others, it is as simple as dropping a nickel in your favorite teachers’ box. It also allows all of our silly sides to shine through, which is always a nice opportunity.”
In addition to the money raised from the teacher dares, Key Club members are raising money themselves, with some choosing to try to fill their own “Pennies for Patients” boxes. Students are given one box at a time, and once they are able to fill it up with pennies or spare change, they are rewarded one hour of community service for their efforts. After filling one box, they can receive another, and this will continue as many times as they can fill a box.
Mr. Kaplan perfectly summarizes the appeal of the fundraiser, “Sometimes, community service can be seen as burdensome, but Teacher Dares reminds us that it actually be a lot of fun! It is inclusive of the whole community, so everyone gets to play a part.”
As BHS continues to anticipate the reveal of this year’s winner, students are encouraged to continue voting, donating, and spreading the word. Together, BHS is working to make a difference, in a fun and exciting way!
