![Adding a tray of canned corn to the pile, junior Michael Collop assists in transporting donations for the Holiday Food Drive. The event, hosted schoolwide from Dec. 10-17, raised over 5,000 food items to deliver to the Parkway Food Pantry, helping several families in need. [The drive] is a great thing for us to do because you're giving to those who are less fortunate, and it helps provide for people who can't provide for themselves. [The] competition is always fun, too. It was fun to be in [social studies teacher Jess] Chazen’s class, because he always gets worked up over [the competition]. He made it exciting, and was always convincing us to turn in cans for the drive,” Collop said.](https://bestofsno.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/feature-photo-unsung-2.png)
![NEW CHALLENGE, NEW TEAM MEMBERS: Every season, VEX creates a new game that robotics team members are faced with and have to build a robot to compete in. This year’s game forces students to create a robot that is able to stack rings onto mobile goals in order to score points. The change in games each season is something that robotics teacher Audrea Moyers appreciates.
“One of the things that I like about VEX is that they have a new problem to solve every year,” she said. ¨Even though the equipment’s the same, they have to analyze the game, and they have to come up with solutions that are unique that year. They are using their knowledge from prior years, but they have to kind of redesign a problem.”
As returning teams were faced a new game, some new teams and members had to adapt to a uncommon playing field and game.
“Three of our four teams were competing for the first time this year, and they had very different experiences match to match, so I think they learned a lot,¨ she said. ¨It’s hard just watching a video online to know how it’s actually going to be in person, so they all learned a lot about what gameplay is like, how to work with an alliance partner [and] how to adapt during the day to changes.”](https://bestofsno.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/IMG_9283-1-1200x800.jpg)
Helping give hope to breast cancer patients
Karina Grokhovskaya
November 17, 2022
The Red Rhythm dance team went over to the National Breast Cancer Foundation (NBCF), a foundation that has provided over 1.7 million breast health resources to those in need to help women and men affected by breast cancer through early detection, education, and supporting services on Thursday.
One way that the NBCF aims to support those affected by breast cancer is “hope kits,” boxes that hold items that help patients through their journey. Yesterday the Red Rhythm dance team went to the foundation to help assemble those hope kits.
Red Rhythm director Nicole Nothe believes this opportunity will strengthen core values.
“I think it would be a great opportunity for Red Rhythm to do more volunteering,” Nothe said. “It is difficult sometimes in the year because we get so wound up in our game schedules and our performance schedules. But it’s such a great opportunity for us to just stop and focus on others and serving others in our community, as well as performing.”
With 2500 kits set to go out, Red Rhythm helped start the process. NBCF’s volunteer program manager, Severina Ware, guided the team to do any prep work required for these hope kits.
“So basically, the drill team is here today to kind of get us a head-on packing those 2500 kids that are going to go out,” Ware said. “So, each packing party, we do have about 2500 kids that go out. And the sole purpose of the team today, what they’re doing is basically getting us started by building boxes, tissue paper, any of the prep work that needs to go into those boxes.”
Raising awareness is one way to help support those battling breast cancer, but volunteering directly involved the dancers with the foundation’s goals.
Some members, such as senior Gabby Stiles, sees this as an excellent opportunity to give back to the community that supports them.
“So a big thing that we wanted to do was give back to our community because we do so much like for ourselves,” Stiles said. “But then, at the same time, it’s like we wanted to give back everything that we have to the community that supports us so much. And so that’s kind of why we wanted to do it.”
Junior Reva Kaburkar saw the opportunity to give back as a great way to bond with the team.
“Just hanging out with my friends, like, while doing something good for the community,” Kaburkar said. “I guess just team bonding and then, like, helping while team bonding instead of doing something just like, just fun. Like, we’re actually, like, helping, and it is so fun to be.”
According to senior Kanen Braden, yesterday’s volunteer drive was just the latest step in Red Rhythm’s pink-out initiatives.
“So during our pink out week we would do different things throughout the week to help and support breast cancer awareness and stuff like that,” Braden said. “And we decided to write cards to this foundation, and then we looked on their website and stuff and saw that they had this opportunity to pack these boxes. And we thought it’d be a great opportunity for our team to come and do this for them.”
This story was originally published on Wingspan on November 11, 2022.
