Connecting Schools With Great Fundraising Ideas.

When I was a kid, I attended Houghton Elementary in Saline, Michigan. Houghton was one of two elementary schools in my town. The other one was called Jensen.

Our official school nickname was the Houghton Hawks. Jensen was The Jets. Nice alliteration, I know.

However, being kids, it didn’t take long for us to use alliteration in a more pejorative fashion. On our playground, the Jensen Jets quickly became referred to as Jensen Junkyard. Likewise, the fine students on the other side of town quickly responded by tagging us as the Houghton Hogs. And thus, a rivalry for the ages was born.

At first blush, this kind of name calling and institutional animosity would seem like a bad thing. After all, it takes a village… why can’t we all just get along… Give peace a chance… I want to buy the world a Coke… Pick your platitude.

But I’m here to offer a potentially controversial opinion. Maybe to increase your school spirit, a rivalry isn’t such a bad thing. I’m not talking about acts of vandalism or even mischievous pranks. Rather, I’m talking about a planned, organized, and healthy form of competition between two or more schools within the same geographical area.

I also would confine my recommendation to elementary, intermediate, and middle schools. High schools already have built-in forms of competition through varsity athletics that achieve many of the same goals I’m writing about in this article.

So, that said, ask yourself- does your school have a cross-town rival? Is there a Jensen Junkyard to your Houghton Hogs?

If the answer is no, is it because you live in such a small rural area, there is only one school per age level? Or is it just because nobody has thought to stoke the fires of competition?

If you truly do live in a rural area, such a relationship could easily be struck up with the nearest school from another town and be just as effective. If it’s simply the case that nobody has ever thrown down the gauntlet to another school, I’d suggest you give some serious thought to doing so. If you “kind of” have a rivalry going, but it’s not very passionate, I would also recommend turning up the heat a few degrees.

First, let me explain what a rivalry is not: It is not, as I mentioned, an excuse to hurt people or property. It is not an opportunity to make oneself feel better at the loss or suffering of another. And it is certainly not an official stamp of who’s better at any particular endeavor.

Rather, a healthy rivalry is made up of a mutual agreement to push each other toward excellence, to instill a strong sense of institutional pride, and to be a catalyst for great accomplishment. Along the way, t-shirts can be worn, bumper stickers can be affixed, songs and cheers can be sung, and yes, even the occasional zinger can be thrown, all in the name of good fun.

So what are the kinds of activities that characterize a healthy rivalry? How about a competitive fundraising event like a “serve-a-thon”? Each school would be competing to see which one could do the most good for the community. Or, what about holding a book reading contest to find out which school has the most readers? There could even be a competition to see which school recycles the most. At the elementary or middle school level, this kind of stuff can be a big deal.

Teachers, school administrators, and parents could all encourage this kind of fevered competition. By hanging up posters, displaying school colors, and singing the school fight song- all these things help to build a very productive and beneficial sense of school spirit in your community. If adults plan, shape, and direct the expression of this rivalry, the likelihood of it devolving into vandalism and mischief become much less likely.

Sure, there may be a bit of the “Hogs” and the “Junkyard” bandied about, but that’s all part of the fun. After all, I was in elementary school over thirty years ago, and I still want to beat those guys at something!

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