Be Smart: Think About Walk-a-thon
Dear Enemies and Friends Alike,
Yes, you're not mistaken. It's that time of year again, when you pay $100 for lukewarm hot dogs and a king size pack of M&M's. Somehow NDP's infamous "Walk-a-thon" has managed to keep a place on the school calendar, despite various protests from students every year.
But wait, I thought you could go around in your neighborhood and your neighbors and friends can make a donation to NDP? Then you don't actually have to pay the money, right?
"Yes, Hi Sir, I attend a Catholic Prep School, could you please give me some money so we can get a new gym at our school? What? No, we're not building a house or cleaning up trash. What are we doing? We're walking around a park, then eating hot dogs and playing frisbee. You think I have a lot of nerve asking for a donation when there are homeless people living right outside my school's walls?"
I don't know about you, but I would feel like an idiot asking someone to donate their hard earned pay to me so I could take a walk in the park.
All I ask of you, my fellow students, my peers, is for you to think.
Before you ask for those donations, or before your parents write that $100 check so nonchalantly, think about what this money is really being spent on. This year's walk-a-thon funds will be used for an auxiliary gym - basically an additional gym because of the various sports teams that need court time: basketball, volleyball, wrestling, etc.
Does our swim team have a pool? Does the track team have a track to run on? Does it seem right to supply the basketball teams with space so they can practice comfortably, when your fellow students have to go off campus to practice? They have no place to begin with, and our school is preoccupied with providing another gym for teams that already have a gym.
It is the mission of Notre Dame Preparatory to build Academic Scholars, Upright Citizens, and Christian People. If we truly wanted to live in conjunction with our so called "Mission Statement," shouldn't we perhaps use the funds to benefit NDP students academically?
The truth is, I don't even think it is even the auxiliary gym portion of walk-a-thon that is the main problem. The root of the problem is walk-a-thon itself. 800 students go on buses, and walk around in a huge circle. In a park. We walk. In a park. NDP, as a catholic institution, commends community service. Why don't we put into action what we talk so much about - helping others, the less fortunate, those that need our assistance. Perhaps cleaning up a park, or renovating a house or a building. This could instill a timeless principle in our students - that you have to work for the things you want. We're not helping anyone by walking five miles in the rain.
I think I would have a much different attitude towards walk-a-thon if it was service based, but the fact is, it is pleasure based. We walk, we please ourselves with all the food we want, and then get a (fill in the blank) for our school.
My intentions are not to get a school-wide boycott of walk-a-thon, or somehow dethrone the administration for continuing this ridiculous fundraiser. All I ask of you, my fellow students, my peers, is for you to think.
Yes, you're not mistaken. It's that time of year again, when you pay $100 for lukewarm hot dogs and a king size pack of M&M's. Somehow NDP's infamous "Walk-a-thon" has managed to keep a place on the school calendar, despite various protests from students every year.
But wait, I thought you could go around in your neighborhood and your neighbors and friends can make a donation to NDP? Then you don't actually have to pay the money, right?
"Yes, Hi Sir, I attend a Catholic Prep School, could you please give me some money so we can get a new gym at our school? What? No, we're not building a house or cleaning up trash. What are we doing? We're walking around a park, then eating hot dogs and playing frisbee. You think I have a lot of nerve asking for a donation when there are homeless people living right outside my school's walls?"
I don't know about you, but I would feel like an idiot asking someone to donate their hard earned pay to me so I could take a walk in the park.
All I ask of you, my fellow students, my peers, is for you to think.
Before you ask for those donations, or before your parents write that $100 check so nonchalantly, think about what this money is really being spent on. This year's walk-a-thon funds will be used for an auxiliary gym - basically an additional gym because of the various sports teams that need court time: basketball, volleyball, wrestling, etc.
Does our swim team have a pool? Does the track team have a track to run on? Does it seem right to supply the basketball teams with space so they can practice comfortably, when your fellow students have to go off campus to practice? They have no place to begin with, and our school is preoccupied with providing another gym for teams that already have a gym.
It is the mission of Notre Dame Preparatory to build Academic Scholars, Upright Citizens, and Christian People. If we truly wanted to live in conjunction with our so called "Mission Statement," shouldn't we perhaps use the funds to benefit NDP students academically?
The truth is, I don't even think it is even the auxiliary gym portion of walk-a-thon that is the main problem. The root of the problem is walk-a-thon itself. 800 students go on buses, and walk around in a huge circle. In a park. We walk. In a park. NDP, as a catholic institution, commends community service. Why don't we put into action what we talk so much about - helping others, the less fortunate, those that need our assistance. Perhaps cleaning up a park, or renovating a house or a building. This could instill a timeless principle in our students - that you have to work for the things you want. We're not helping anyone by walking five miles in the rain.
I think I would have a much different attitude towards walk-a-thon if it was service based, but the fact is, it is pleasure based. We walk, we please ourselves with all the food we want, and then get a (fill in the blank) for our school.
My intentions are not to get a school-wide boycott of walk-a-thon, or somehow dethrone the administration for continuing this ridiculous fundraiser. All I ask of you, my fellow students, my peers, is for you to think.
posted by Matthew at 12:02 AM
<< Home