Students show their school spirit

Posted By Bruce Urquhart, SENTINEL-REVIEW

Updated 20 days ago

The cheering and applause was almost deafening.

With more than 300 high school students hollering at the top of their lungs, it seemed more like a rock festival than a United Way fundraiser. The noise from the cheering was so intense that one visitor to the United Way Stair Climb -- a surprised toddler who arrived at the Southwood Arena with his mother -- clamped his hands over his tiny ears.

However deafening, the noise from the assembled students was an enthusiastic expression of Thursday morning's intersection of school and community spirit -- a connection that resulted in $15,455 in donations for the United Way. While down by about $1,000 from the previous year's high school stair climb, Kelly Gilson, the executive director of the United Way of Oxford, was thrilled with the result.

"Given that many of the schools have been hit by the flu, it's really remarkable," Gilson said. "We had great participations, we raised almost as much as we did last year and we couldn't be happier."

The climb itself involved a meandering line of hundreds of students from Ingersoll District Collegiate Institute, Woodstock Collegiate Institute, Huron Park Secondary School, St. Mary's High School and College Avenue Secondary School. Singly or in small groups of two and three, the students climbed the equivalent of 35 flights of stairs as they twice circled the perimeter of the arena.

"It's a good way to the get the schools and the community together," said Jeff Faber, a Grade 12 student St. Mary's student who spent the morning painted blue. "We're able to raise money for a good cause and have a great time."

Before the late-morning climb, the students from these five local high schools enjoyed a friendly competition on the arena's ice surface. Representatives from each school participated in the challenge's three light-hearted events, testing their skills at turkey bowling, the hockey shootout and the "Lionel Pizza Toss." Thanks to their skill at turkey bowling, which actually involved a frozen bird and six pins, the WCI students ultimately emerged as the victors.

But the ultimate -- and defending champions -- of the stair climb was, thanks to the efforts of its students, IDCI. The Ingersoll school's students managed to raise an impressive $8,102 for the United Way, marking yet another year as the event's top school. The top male fundraiser was Ingersoll's Kyle Fairbairn, who raised $110, while the top female fundraisers were IDCI Grade 12 students Nicole Priddle and Kelsey Lauersen, who raised $700.50 in tandem.

"We just made a goal," Lauersen said about their fundraising efforts, "and we went door to door."

The fundraising spirit was enough that Michael Divinski, a Grade 12 St. Mary's student, approached Gilson after the trophies were awarded and pulled $20 from his own wallet to bump up the total. This final donation was indicative of the essence of the entire morning, which could be summed up in one of the Ingersoll cheers: "We've got spirit, yes we do. We've got spirit. how 'bout you?"

burquhart@bowesnet.com