Pajamas and exam week?
Published 4:32 pm Monday, December 29, 2014
By BETTINA HAYNES / Special to the Reporter
One doesn’t typically hear those words together, until now.
Calera High School is making that possible with just $1 a day or $4 for the whole exam week.
Plus, all the money raised goes to needy families in Calera.
When last counted, the club Peer Helpers had raised over $1,100.
When asked where the idea originated, Joel Dixon, principal at CHS, said that Peer Helpers had found a needy family in Calera they wanted to help, so they wanted to do a pajama day for just one day.
Dixon decided to take it one step further. He suggested selling the wristbands during lunch for exam week on Dec. 15-19.
Because these exams are worth 20 percent of the students’ grades, Dixon believed that the students would benefit if they were comfortable.
When asked how she felt when it came to giving back to the community through this fundraiser, Laurie Kapuya, a geometry teacher at CHS, said, “I think it’s outstanding. The givers receive more than the receivers would.”
Kapuya didn’t think the test scores would be better when students wear pajamas because they would be too excited about wearing pajamas to school.
But only time will tell, when students find out their exam scores at the beginning of 2015.
Kristie Harper, a ninth grade student at CHS, said she loves the idea.
“I like it because it’s comfier than regular clothes,” Harper said.
Dixon said CHS achieved several goals this week.
“First, we raised a lot of money to help those around us in need, and that’s an important lesson–serving others and the power we have when we join together in a common cause for good,” Dixon said. “We tell kids all the time that you need to be a part of something bigger than yourself. It also enabled us to take a little bit of stress off of exam week. I’m not sure if it will actually show up in grades on exams, but I know the feel of the school was much more relaxed, and that’s a good thing.”