![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)
The girls soccer team has been fundraising for their head coach, Jamie Leraas, who was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. The team started three weeks ago in preparation for Leraas’s double mastectomy that happened on Sept. 10. All the money they have collected is going towards her medical expenses.
“We wanted to do this for Coach Leraas because she deserves it, she has done so much for us and the school,” Savannah Christain, ‘25 said. “She’s always there on the sideline supporting us, winning or losing. She treats us like family, so we felt like we needed to treat her as family.”
The fundraiser was started due to the girl’s desire to help support their coach. They brought attention to the idea by telling their families and getting in touch with the assistant coach, Matt Owings.
“When Coach Leraas told the team and some of the parents of the team, nearly everyone wanted to help support her,” Owings said. “The shirts idea generated from one of our parents and I helped coordinate. Many members of the girls soccer team also on their own got together to buy Coach Leraas gifts, gift cards and heartfelt cards filled with their support and love.”
The fundraiser consisted of selling t-shirts, collecting donations and gift cards. They also created a GoFundMe and set up a MealTrain.
“In just the first week, we sold 60 shirts, this was limited to just the girls soccer team and their families,” Owings said. “Altogether, about 100 shirts were sold and about $1,500 was raised. If you combine that with the GoFundMe and the meal train, that’s almost $14,000 raised for her in just a couple weeks, not to mention all of the meals already delivered to the Leraas family since her surgery.”
The coaches and players spread word about the fundraiser through multiple platforms.
“The athletics programs in FISD use SportsYou to communicate with athletes and parents,” Owings said. “A lot of the communication was there and through email. I also sent out emails to the staff, and friends of Coach Leraas throughout the district and community and it was posted in the FHS newsletter.”
Leraas is currently off from school for the three weeks following her surgery, and the girls eagerly await her return.
“Coach Leraas should know that she is loved by so many people and that she’s made a difference in many girls’ lives,” Christian said. “Personally, before last season, I had never played soccer before. She was the first person to come to me and tell me that it’ll all be alright and she wouldn’t have told me to try out if she didn’t believe that I couldn’t do it. She teaches us to be hard working and work as a team no matter what is happening, and that we are all a family on the team.”
This story was originally published on The Racoon Rambler on October 4, 2024.
