Everything changed for her. Life will never be the same. However, we jumped at the opportunity to help. After a week’s worth of running about frantically to make sure everything fell into place, Legacy’s Student Council gave Amanda Ferguson and her family everything they hoped for.
L.U.C.K. (Legacy United in Caring and Kindness) Week occurred during the week of Feb. 26- March 2. The week was flooded with activities the student body and staff could participate in to raise money for Amanda Ferguson, who currently battles severe bone cancer. Amanda is the wife of football and track coach Shayne Ferguson.
“Throughout L.U.C.K. Week, I felt a sense of pride to be apart of the Legacy family knowing that we were doing all that we could do to help fundraise for Coach Ferguson and his family,” junior and Student Body Secretary Lexus Ramos said. “In a difficult situation, such as the one his family is facing, it’s always heartwarming to know that the community will unite to support one of our own.”
The bake sale, held at The Porch in Mansfield, kicked off theL.U.C.K. week festivities and a number of parents and students pitched in to contribute baked goods and donations. The event raised over $1,000 and many families enjoying breakfast that morning left with a treat afterward. The color clash was equally successful, with over 50 students, staff, and parents awaiting a colorful, fun-filled night. Student Body President Sadie Johnson and the rest of the Council worked tirelessly to make the week a success, while still enjoying the various events they planned.
“My favorite event was the color war because I got to enjoy time with people I don’t normally see in school much and I had a lot of fun being outside and getting messy,” Johnson said. “I think the events encouraged people to get involved and excited about the week.”
In addition to the major events, smaller ideas took a platform. The jukebox during lunch featured a list of approved songs the students could pick from to play during their lunchtime. They paid one dollar to play half of the song, and two dollars for the full song. Dancers took to the floor to showcase their skills, while some remained in their seats and sang along with the tunes.
“We were all having fun and we all connected,” freshman Serena Noureddine said. “ Everyone dancing and laughing made the place more uplifted and enjoyable.”
Other events included the lollipop station, where students and staff could come up and pick from a small tower of custom lollipops and pay according to the color on the bottom of the stick. Students participated in the Chain of Hope made of construction paper cut into rectangles and linked together after students came up and wrote words of encouragement for Amanda.
“Raising money for Mrs. Ferguson was extremely rewarding, especially as the amount started to really increase,” senior Sadie Johnson said.
Events taking place later on in the week included the On the Border fundraiser which brought booming business to the rather barren restaurant, with a 3 hour wait period. During the day, each class participated in the Race to Raise game. When music came on the PA system, the classes scrambled to get money into a plastic bag and out the time in record time to get to the StuCo room. The class with the most amount of money received a snack cart as a reward.
“It was cool because it got people to actually donate money,” junior Abigail Elias said. “It was a fun and easy way to raise money for a good cause.”
At the start of the next week, a reflection period featured the StuCo officers and sponsor, Ms. Kenna Cavnar, creating and filling out a positives/deltas chart to highlight on the well-executed activities, and the ones which could use some fine-tuning. Johnson didn’t think the feat came easy for the council, so she shares some words of advice for the officers that will be taking over next year.
“The biggest advice I can share is plan early; if you think you’re planning too far ahead, you’re wrong,” Johnson said. “There’s no such thing as too early. Signs, flyers, social media, and word of mouth are so incredibly important to success.”
With a final count of roughly $10,400 raised, everyone exhaled and let the tension and even anxiety bottled up inside them deflate. The week was over, and not having the opportunity to hold a final pep rally was a major letdown. However, the student council remained strong. They had to for Amanda.
“Words can’t describe how proud I am of everyone and the students for helping us surpass $10,000,” Johnson said. “It’s heartwarming, to say the least.”
