The 40-Hour Challenge is an annual fundraising event that encourages youth to give up something in exchange for a better tomorrow. This year’s challenge ran from June 13th to 15th, and all donations are going to communities in the Solomon Islands that lack sufficient food. Kaiapoi High School has always been involved through both awareness and fundraising, but this year, the student council decided to take it up a notch last week, creating new and fun ways leading up to the challenge to push it within the school.
Monday started with a staple: a bake sale. With treats ranging from cookies, cakes, and the occasional store-bought baked goods, it was quickly swept up by students and staff alike.
Tuesday was Minute to Win It, in which students played games such as Pictionary and charades and tried to win within 40 seconds. Although it only ran for one break due to running out of prizes, this was still a huge success.
Wednesday was originally planting 40 trees. This is when our house leaders, house captains, and members of the council all got together to help our environment. They ended up planting over 100 trees in the two hours. A massive thank you to Mr Henson for taking the students and to The Little Big Tree Company for supplying the trees.
Thursday was learning 40 new words. This was when members of the council ran a challenge with Miss Lin, to see how many words in Mandarin they could recall. Students persevered with this challenge when the promise of lollies was mentioned for every word they could remember. Thank you to Miss Lin, who gave up her break for an awesome learning opportunity.
With money combined from both the bake sale and members of the Kaiapoi team taking part in the 40-Hour Challenge, we managed to raise over $400 for the cause. The student council is looking forward to doing more of these kinds of events in the future.
Addison Chapman, Student Council Chair
