By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
After months of being cooped up at home, three Bowling Green High School organizations have teamed up to bring some happiness to their community.
Each student group has planned activities for November – called “Bobcats Give” – to boost the spirits of students of all ages and the rest of the community. All of the planning for the events has been virtual.
“This is the first time we’ve done something together,” said senior Ellie Boyle, a member of the student activities board, StuCrew.
“Obviously around Thanksgiving we can’t be around our families, and we’re not together at school,” Boyle said.
But they are working together – and asking the community to join in – throughout November. Here are their plans:
- Nov 2 – 6, students of all ages will be asked to post pictures of people and things they are thankful for. This will be organized by StuCrew.
- Nov. 9 – 20, the community is invited to join in a holiday scavenger hunt, organized by BG FFA.
- Nov. 16 – 20, the community will be asked to donate to the Harvest for Hunger food drive, organized by DECA.
High School Principal Jeff Dever said the students are trying to bring some goodness to the community during a tough time when it’s easy to be negative.
“I think the kids feel cooped up, and what they want to do is get out and do something positive,” Dever said. “People are just crabby. I think they want to get out of the house and do positive things. Kids are cool.”
The first event will start on Monday.
“We are hosting a virtual week of gratitude,” said Miranda Scholl, who advises StuCrew with Maggie Convery.
Each day of the week will have a different category, and each person posting photos is asked to challenge or tag two other people to post. Following are the themes for posting each day:
- Monday – Family members.
- Tuesday – Friends.
- Wednesday – Why they love being Bobcats.
- Thursday – Teachers.
- Friday – Students are asked to perform acts of kindness, then post pictures of those efforts.
“We want to spread positivity on social media,” Scholl said.
“We want to thank our teachers, friends and families to brighten everyone’s day,” Boyle said.
The next activity is the holiday scavenger hunt, with a focus on agriculture’s role in Thanksgiving dinners. Anyone in the community is welcome to join in.
“This is a new activity for us,” said Stephanie Conway, FFA adviser. “We wanted to do something that is COVID friendly – and spread a little agricultural knowledge.”
The scavenger hunt will take participants to City Park, Carter Park, the three elementaries, middle school, high school, and central administration building. There will be QR codes that require people to find out facts about food on the table for many Thanksgivings.
“I think we’re just trying to do anything to give students something to do that gets them outside and away from the computer screen,” Conway said.
“This will get people out in our community to enjoy our parks,” Boyle said.
A raffle will be held for those who complete all the stations.
The last stop on the scavenger hunt leads to the next activity – the “Harvest for Hunger.”
Normally, members of DECA decorate grocery carts and wheel them into the classrooms to collect items for the annual food drive. Since that isn’t possible this year, a truck will be parked at the high school for people to drop off non-perishable foods.
“This time we are taking it out in the community,” Scholl said of the food drive.
“We still want to give back to the community in some way,” Boyle said.
The food collected this year will go to the Brown Bag Project in Bowling Green.
“We’re hoping for a lot of community participants,” Boyle said. “Obviously, safety is our number one concern. But we also want to promote a sense of community.”
The students and their advisers realize that the holidays this year will be very different due to COVID.
“Anyway we can boost overall morale and give people something positive to focus on – we want to figure out ways to still give back,” Scholl said.
Further details will be posted on the Bowling Green High School Facebook page.
