WOODBURY — As the teacher rambled on about math — “limit does not exist” — students prayed for it to end. Those prayers never seem to be answered. But what if students could actually stop class?
This year, Nonnewaug High School is hosting its annual red-out in support of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS) with a twist. Students and staff are able to participate in stalling class time while donating to a cause.
Juniors Andrew Grivner and Gavin Sandor along with many others came up with a new way for students to donate to LLS while having fun.
But what is this new idea? Grivner and Sandor rolled it out in the form of a video showed to advisories Jan. 3.
“We’re calling it STALL,” Grivner said. “The main overview [of the video] is that you’re stuck in class, you have an annoying partner next to you who’s the nerd always getting all the answers right, and you just want to take a nap. So our main character of the story wants to stall time, which ends up happening. We have a wizard that comes in, and the wizard says, ‘You can stall time for a dollar.’ This presents the rules of the competition, and then from there the main character realizes it’s all a dream and then they can donate a dollar to stop class time and relax.”
This idea created by two NHS juniors didn’t come easy, though. The process took a little more work than one might think.
“We started off by emailing the principal and he asked for a meeting about the idea, [and] then we had to do a presentation,” Sandor said. “Dr. [Mykal] Kuslis liked it, so we went to one of the staff meetings and did a presentation for [the teachers], and they liked it, too. That’s how we got it approved.”
On the two STALL days, Feb. 6 and 7, participating classes will accept donations from students to stop class — one minutes for every dollar donated. Teachers can buy back minutes by donating dollars in return. All proceeds will go toward this year’s LLS fundraiser.
Tricia Marrone, the NHS math teacher and Student Events Planning Committee advisor who annually organizes the red-out fundraiser for the LLS fundraiser, approved the idea as soon as she got the chance, helping her team make sure everyone had a great time.
“I hope to see more participation with the students this year. I think it’s a great concept and it’s going to be a great week,” said Marrone, whose committee will also organize the red-out spirit week that includes a pep rally prior to the basketball doubleheader against Shepaug on Feb. 2. “Teachers might be more pressured to feel like they have to donate back to get their class time back, but if they don’t, they might have a relaxing day with the kids, which I think they deserve.”
Along with Sandor and Grivner, many other students participated in the idea to make sure they spread the messages clearly and effectively all while having fun. Junior Katie Farrell, an actor in the video, had a great time filming while helping kids have a good time.
“I personally think it’s a really smart idea because especially with midterms and all the stress from classes lately, I think a lot of people will want to pause class time,” Farrell said. “I think it reaches the whole school so it doesn’t just target one audience, so I’m hoping it will be effective and everyone will donate.”
