Pops for Pups could be the title of a new off-Broadway show. However, at Mars Area Middle School, it was an event that allowed the student-led Community Service Committee to connect students and the community with the MIRA Foundation USA.
The MIRA Foundation USA is headquartered in Pinehurst, N.C. It provides guide dogs at no cost to eligible children between ages 11 and 16. Mira is the Spanish word for sight.
One of the committee’s classmates, Max Lamm, now a ninth-grader, is blind and has Seal, his service dog, with him at all times.
During the last two years that Max and Seal have been attending Mars Area Middle School, the committee has raised more than $1,000 for the MIRA Foundation USA. This year, they wanted to do something to get the whole school involved.
“We tried to figure out what we could use (this year) that would interest the middle school student body,” says Becky Monhemius eighth-grade language arts teacher who, along with eighth-grade science teacher Nikki Hegerich, advises the committee.
Pops for Pups combined the need for thirst-quenching snack with Mars Area Middle School’s physical education department’s spring Track and Field Day, hosted on June 6. Attendees could make a $2 donation in advance of the event and receive a coupon to get a frozen fruit bar on Track and Field Day, or they could buy them on the day of at the same price.
“Frozen fruit bars seemed to be a fun option that the kids would like,” Monhemius says.
At first glance, the $2 price tag might have seemed a bit high, but once students were aware that proceeds would be going toward a good cause, they were on board.
“We told the kids that it was to benefit the MIRA Foundation, and most were able and willing to buy their bars at that rate,” Monhemius says. “The bulk of our sales were on the Track and Field Day.”
The committee put together an all-out promotion blitz in support of Pops for Pups with hallway posters, letters and email blasts, and announcements on Mars Area Middle School’s Morning News show.
The 30-strong committee continued Pops for Pups at lunch periods right up to the summer social on the last day of school.
Eighth-grader Katie Schlegel, 13, a member of the committee, helped tack up 75 multicolor hallway posters around Mars Area Middle School.
“We did this really to become aware of the MIRA Foundation and to help out one of our classmates,” Katie says. “It was hard work, but it brought us out of the box of everyday life.”
She says the committee’s work enabled them to better understand the challenges their classmate Max faces every day.
“It put things in perspective,” Katie says. “I was able to grasp (the need) of not thinking about myself. It was super fun. We saw how to benefit the foundation and build awareness for it.”
