2017.10.20
The Penguin Suit Challenge
“Outtakes”. A snippet of thoughts to kick off this blog post:
Having the opportunity to wear a full penguin suit all day in a high school in front of students and professional peers sounds terrifying. For a good cause, I’m in!
What I am looking forward to putting into practice, or continuing:
It’s coming up on Spirit Week - School Spirit!
Quote(s) that resonated with me this week:
The highest result of education is tolerance. ~ Helen Keller
Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much. ~ Helen Keller
This week I was approached about participating in The Charity Link Penguin Challenge. All I knew about the event was that the “winning” staff member “gets to” wear a full penguin suit for the entire day. You can see building principal, @WEganprincipal stylishly donning the penguin suit below… I am all for school spirit, but I was a little concerned about being a new staff member at NCHS and trying to maintain a level of professionalism while looking like Chilly Willy the Penguin...
Shortly after I heard about the challenge, I was provided some details and I was all in! Here is a quick snapshot:
“CharityLink has been running the costume fundraiser for about ten years, since the club's inception. Each year, the penguin suit contest is one of our most successful events. Students carefully select some of their favorite teachers and educators to participate in the contest each year. Normally the club members choose their own charities for each fundraiser, but as a way to entice faculty members to participate, we've asked teachers to select where they'd like the funds to go if they "win." Last year the group raised over $500.00.” (English teachers, Kristen Brown & Arri Weeks)
Of course, it is a meaningful event and I would have participated either way, but the opportunity to choose a charity of choice was a nice twist. Having the opportunity to personalize the experience makes it even better. You may have seen an earlier blog where I shared that our 7-year son, Nicholas has type 1 diabetes (link). It is a challenging disease, it is difficult that people with T1D do not “look sick”, and we have many students in the NCPS who navigate the stressful highs and lows on a 24-7-365 basis. With that being said, I wanted to choose an organization that would benefit someone with T1D, and possibly one of our current or former students. After reaching out to a trusted source in the T1D community, I chose The College Diabetes Network. You can learn more about it, here. If you would like to donate (and possibly see me in a penguin suit, all day), feel free to contact me or send some money in to donate with your child :)
Now the fun part… The competition will be tough this year, and Principal Egan has already tweeted out that he is looking forward to a successful “3-peat”. This challenge is a win-win. Staff get to have fun with a little friendly competition, students get to raise awareness and advocate for a cause or causes they may be passionate about, and one charity will benefit from the generous donations from the student body. It seems obvious why this has been part of the culture for so long and I am excited to take part it in it this year!
Please feel free to contact or follow me:
Email: david.gusitsch@ncps-k12.org
The “Competition”!
Reigning 2-time Champ, Principal Egan:
College Diabetes Network programs across the country:
Speaking of school spirit, this all ties in nicely with Spirit Week next week!
“Official” campaign organizers for the CharityLink Penguin Suit Challenge:
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