Geneva Middle School Students Take Stand Against Bullying, Raise Funds for Charities

Submitted by Geneva C.U.S.D. 304

Last fall, seventh grade students at Geneva Middle School North stood together against bullying in a 6-minute video called “Vikings Stand Up!” and raised more than $1,000 in t-shirt sales in the process. 

In May, the 7Blue team at North continued its the focus on taking a stand by choosing three charities to “stand up” for by donating the proceeds of the t-shirt sales. 

In total, students researched 47 organizations, focusing specifically on how the charity makes a difference and the amount of donations that goes directly to the cause. 

Each individual or group created a visual presentation board displaying their research findings and presented them to their classmates in an effort to persuade their peers to vote for their particular charity.

The three winning charities are:

• Joni and Friends (researched by Zack Borrego)
• Feed My Starving Children (researched by Dan Belzer and David Tarpey)
• Make-A-Wish Foundation (researched by Nicole Walley) 

In addition, the GMSN student council donated $500.000 to Hear the Cheers (researched by Eliza Peters); teacher KatieEdison and her husband chose to donate $100.00 to the Trevor Project (researched by Jacob Sweet and Dean Sela); and teacher Chris McKechnie and her husband chose to donate $100.00 to the Liddy Shriver Sarcoma Initiative (researched by Julie Eich and Kendall Terzich).