Ballard’s one and only Move Maroon is hard at work, yet again this year. So far this school year, they have managed to wrangle up some of Ballard’s favorite fundraisers and events. The corn hole tournament this past September, penny wars in the cafeteria, a pumpkin painting contest, and their annual yellow out football game. All the proceeds they have raised fund the critical battle against pediatric cancer.
“We’re always looking for ideas as well. So if anybody ever thinks of anything that they want to do, we would love to do it. We just have to hear those ideas,” says Mrs. Jacobs, the club’s teacher sponsor. It is Move Maroon’s duty to plan out various events and fundraisers. While they do have annual charity events, they also have to plan new and fun ideas to get students involved in the cause. “And so, trying to just find opportunities for kids to be able to get involved that doesn’t require them to, like, have to be able to play a sport or have to be, like, super artistic… how can we, like, support all different parts of the student body?” Says Mrs. Jacobs.
One of Move Maroon’s most significant events is their annual Yellow Out football game. “So, any of the yellow out games, we get the entrance fee for the tickets… And so we don’t know how much we raised yet. I’m waiting on our athletic director to let us know, but last year we raised two grand just from the football game alone,” says Mrs. Jacobs. On top of the entrance fees associated with the football game, Move Maroon has raised over six thousand dollars. During the yellow out game on September 26th, members of the club walked out on the field, proudly holding poster boards with the total amount of money they raised at that point in the school year. However, they still do not know how much money was made at the game. “Our biggest accomplishment is raising 6 grand in 6 weeks, I think that’s pretty awesome,” says Avery Blair, this year’s co-vice president. “Last year in total, we were at about $4,000 in profit before things kind of went awry in the second half of the school year. This year, we’re already at six. And so it’s pretty incredible with the first 10 weeks,” says Mrs. Jacobs.
While most of Move Maroon’s more popular events are during the fall semesters of the school year, they work hard in the winter and spring months to make sure events are put into motion. ” It is also really helpful because football is really big… It’s a little bit more challenging when the gyms are taken up by basketball and volleyball, and everything else… You have to get creative during those colder months, and that’s kind of our goal this year.” The club meeting on October 22nd began with a slide presentation titled We need to talk… Despite this year’s club president, Millie Duncan, anxiously addressing the students that organization is a necessity, the club has set in motion all of their pre-planned annual events, along with some new ideas. “I really, really, really, really am excited about the trivia night that’s coming up. That one, I feel like it’s going to be a lot of fun to plan, because I’m in charge of, like, getting the catering together and everything, and the trivia night in general is going to be a lot of fun.” A trivia night is one of the new events that students are looking forward to creating, along with some winter holiday fundraisers. Similar to the pumpkin painting contest held on October 27th, Mrs. Jacobs hopes to create a gingerbread house decorating contest.
Lots of brand-new changes get everyone excited for what this club can accomplish this year. Mrs. Jacobs says, “We have an actual committee this year, which is really nice…It’s also been good to be able to have a little bit less on my plate this year.” While student leadership has not been a prominent part of Move Maroon, students continue finding ways to get involved and show that they care about their school. Millie Duncan, this year’s senior president, shares how she came to hold her leadership position. “I didn’t start Move Maroon around until last year, but it actually was last year that I found out that a very close family friend of mine had gotten pediatric cancer… I think she kind of like, really inspired me to take a bigger stance in Move Maroon…” says Duncan. “It’s one of my first leadership positions, and it’s not just because of leadership, but it’s also been so, like, it’s been so nice being able to see everyone putting in work to help a greater cause. And so for me, this has been a really eye-opening experience,” she continues.
Not only does Move Maroon entail raising money and awareness for pediatric cancer research, but it also plays a big role in shaping Ballard students to be compassionate and real-world ready. “I think it’s really important to have some philanthropic service in high school because it keeps you grounded. I know a lot of times we focus on, oh, is it going to help our ACT score? Is it going to help our GPA? But at the end of the day, like, there’s something more than just a letter grade associated with you,” Mrs. Jacobs explains. Millie Duncan says, “It’s one of my first leadership positions, and it’s not just because of leadership, but it’s also been so, like, it’s been so nice being able to see everyone putting in work to help a greater cause. And so for me, this has been a really eye-opening experience.” This year’s Junior co-vice president, Lexi Everett, says, “I joined Move Maroon because I think every kid deserves a chance at life, and I just love helping kids in need during the hard times. Especially since I know how it feels to grow up in and out of the hospital.” Mrs. Jacobs says, “You rarely find a group of students who are willing to spend their time donating money and donating their time for children with cancer… we have hardworking and dedicated groups of students.”
A testament to Ballard, Move Maroon is an outstanding example of youth philanthropy in the Louisville community. “All the money directly goes to helping families in the Louisville Metro area. So JCPS in general. It helps like fund their abilities to get, not necessarily treatments, but… like giving housing to someone who needed it while they were doing cancer treatments…” says Millie Duncan. So, how is all of this hard work organized? A student in Move Maroon, Rocco Lucas, says, “Move Maroon is an organization that’s the high school version of UofL’s Raise Red program, and we help raise funds to help kids with pediatric cancer. It benefits those kids and also kids in Ballard by inspiring connection and raising awareness.” Mrs. Jacobs says, “UofL is a major partner with the Children’s Miracle Network, and that is specifically within our region of the state of Kentucky. That is the only place that our money goes… it is to support families that are dealing with pediatric cancer and, like blood treatment, specifically. So the money goes to the cancer treatments, but also some of it goes to research. UofL specifically partners with the Norton Children’s Miracle Network. So they act as an overhead for us.”
Mrs. Jacobs also says, “The most that we have raised to help with $16,000. Male is the other one that is in Jefferson County…The good news is, we beat Male.” Competitive and successful, Move Maroon still has a long way to go to reach their full potential. “Also, just to know that we are not a dance club like… we are a club that is raising money and it has nothing to do with dance,” says Millie Duncan. After the switch from “Dance Maroon” to “Move Maroon” in recent years, membership numbers have increased. “We had maybe 15 or 20 people in the club. This year, we have over 60 that have joined the Google Classroom, and at least 20 to 30 who are consistently showing up to meetings,” says Mrs. Jacobs. “Any time that we can have a business in our community that can support us… We try to incorporate them as much as possible… but a lot of these corporate donations will be things like gift cards so that we can do raffles, and we can do prizes, shirts that are covered, food donations, so that we can get more people to come,” Mrs. Jacobs says. Move Maroon also gains their support and spreads their information on social media. “Ballard Move Maroon is having a lot of events all the time, and I think making sure you stay in connection with us and specifically our Instagram will be very helpful for all our students,” says Duncan. Student Rocco Lucas says, “I joined Move Maroon to help raise funds and bring awareness to the issue. I think a lot of people know me and view my posts, so I thought that would help in my goal.”
Concerns have also been spoken on, about the proximity in which another organization, Ballard’s Educators Rising, is hosting a similar fundraiser to Move Maroon: Boo Grams. Educator’s Rising sold two-dollar Boo Grams containing cake pops in the cafeteria the week of October twentieth to the twenty-fourth. Meanwhile, Move Maroon plans to sell their one-dollar Boo Grams containing little bags of candy. “I would love more communication when it comes to clubs and fundraising… I obviously support students who are going into classrooms and working with kids…maybe possibly in the future working together on Boo grams and splitting the profits so that we can say we went to both clubs,” says Mrs. Jacobs. Mrs. Cummings, the club sponsor of Educators Rising, shares her opinion on the matter. “I mean, boo grams and grateful grams, and all those things have been around…for a while,” she says. “Hopefully it jumps up more participation for Move Maroon to, you know, have people who want to buy boo grams and begin to raise more funds as well,” says Mrs. Cummings.
“I think it’s odd that boo grams have been our thing for a decade… just now when we were going to do Boo grams, they decide to at the same time,” says Avery Blair. Her co-vice president, Lexi Everett, says, “I don’t really mind that they did it; it’s just more competition for us. But it’s a great idea to make money, and it’s cool that they liked our idea and wanted to try it.” It has raised various stress levels for those trying to brainstorm creative and original ideas to raise money. Skylar Smith, public relations coordinator for Educators Rising, says, “I think that it’s honestly probably a good thing for both groups, because, I mean, we let out the word. I think it’s just good for both of us to have the word out.”
Educators Rising, an established and useful asset for students at Ballard, is described as “an extracurricular activity for kids who are aspiring educators, who want to be teachers or go into a related career path in education,” by Mrs. Cummings. The boo grams are funding their travels to the national competition, where Ballard won second place in the nation for an outstanding chapter last year. “We have amazing students, and so we’re trying to continue on that trajectory,” says Mrs. Cummings. Boo grams and grateful grams, however, are not the only times you can donate to Educators Rising. “We do several bake sales during the year…We have a lot of really good bakers in our squad, and some parents here are good bakers. So those we look forward to, and they usually do pretty well,” continues Mrs. Cummings. Educators Rising does hard work to prepare students for their future classrooms, once they leave their current ones. “It gives them a unique perspective on understanding the teaching profession and helps to kind of support their interest……and not only just become teachers, but quality teachers who understand the demands of the profession and are going to be great assets to our community as well,” says Mrs. Cummings.
Some say that such proximity can be an asset, while others say it harms each club’s chance of meeting its goals. The proximity means that students will hear about a similar fundraiser from both sides, doubling the communication and platform. On the other hand, this could also mean that these clubs stand divided and one side gets more proceeds than the other.
Organizations and clubs find it difficult to adequately fundraise for issues they feel passionately about. This is especially the case for large high schools such as Ballard, where students compete for the attention of their endless sea of classmates. Ballard’s myriad clubs are creatively hard at work, striving for excellence and recognition. Move Maroon and Educators Rising are proud to represent Ballard, and create a platform for students to get involved and show that they care about supporting and making change for their community. Students at Ballard definitely have their work cut out for them. Whether it’s making donations to their favorite clubs and causes, joining the efforts by being involved, or simply supporting and admiring those who do, important work is happening at Ballard.
