By Lisa Carolin
One good turn deserves another, and that’s been in evidence at Beach Middle School where students in the Leadership class come up with ideas to fundraise for worthy causes, and then Scott Eckland, owner of Chelsea Signs, donates his time, materials and artistic know-how to the class to illustrate the accomplishment.
“When Beach Leadership first started spearheading fundraising efforts for local charities, we thought it would be a fun idea to have a ‘big check’ made up for photos and for the kids to visualize what we, as a school, had raised,” said Kathryn McCalla, teacher of the Leadership class, which is an elective for seventh and eighth-graders.
The checks are large, foam board signs made out to a specific charity with the amount students raised written on it. The checks are posted in the Beach cafeteria.
“The ‘big checks’ are part of Beach culture now,” said McCalla. “They are presented during the students’ lunches. Students have come to expect them, and so have the adults.”
McCalla says the work that Eckland does to create the checks would cost about $150 per year, money that the Leadership class can use for other activities. The purpose of the class is to introduce leadership ideas and techniques through activities, videos, speakers and fundraising.
“It’s important to raise money for a worthy cause, but I think it’s more important to be the vehicle through which students, via their own decision-making power and action steps, can give and be a part of something influential,” said McCalla.
She says that she and her students appreciate that Eckland knows what they’re working on and that he can share it with others in the business community. They also appreciate how quickly Eckland can turn around the checks, especially when students are raising money right up until the last minute.
The Leadership class’s most recent fundraiser was for Ele’s Place, a local healing center for grieving children, for which the class raised $927.25.
