Central Christian seventh-graders hold circus, raise money
The 28 seventh-grade students from Central Christian organized and held a circus on April 20 at Venture Heritage Farm, raising nearly $4,000 for Open Arms Ministry.
When Central Christian’s seventh-grade class members put their heads together, they can do amazing things.
For nearly two months, they met both in and out of school time to plan an event to help a local organization. On April 20, the 28 students’ time and energy shined through when they held a circus at Venture Heritage Farm, 13777 Arnold Road, Dalton.
The sunny weather was perfect for the afternoon event, which included a show filled with acts prepared by the class, a petting zoo, games, food and other activities. Admission was $10 per family or $3 per person, and all proceeds went to Open Arms Ministries, an organization with a mission to welcome, accompany and partner with Latino immigrants in building a safe and sustainable life. Pablo Delgado, Open Arms executive director, spoke at the event.
He said Open Arms has served the local Hispanic community for more than 20 years in many ways including helping with transportation, interpretation and teaching English to children. The money raised by the event will go into its compassion fund, which is used to meet different physical needs including help with food, clothes, diapers and medications.
“What triggered the seventh-graders to plan this was two of their teachers. Bob Troyer and Logan Schrock planned an event during the school day to help students experience what immigrants go through,” Delgado said.
Kids went to different stations including a mock MCC Connections, Everence Bank, Raber Dental and a church where Delgado gave a short sermon in Spanish. In fact, everything at each station was in Spanish, and students had to pretend they were immigrants and to answer or communicate with body language or in Spanish.
After this experience they decided they wanted to do something to help Open Arms. Delgado said he was thankful the class took the initiative to come up with this event.
“I’m glad we could bring the awareness to a younger generation that we aren’t the only ones here and that we can help others,” he said.
To plan the event, students formed five groups to help plan for all the logistics including marketing, games, food, a petting zoo and the main show. They named their plan Act 7.
“I love planning and running an event, and I thought it would be an amazing way to bond with my classmates, especially since it’s my first year at this school,” student Annabelle Combs said. “I think it was something just our class could do. Maybe seventh grade in the future would do something like it but not the same.
“This is my first time holding something this big. It’s hard work, but it is the best feeling when it all pulls off and everyone enjoys it.”
Students came up with some goals including to raise at least $500, to have fun, to learn responsibility and how to gather and coordinate things, and to get more than 100 people to attend.
One of Act 7’s goals was met when over 300 people came. At 1:30 p.m. guests could try their hand at games including ring toss and balloon pop. Churros, funnel cakes and popcorn also were available.
Then at 2 p.m. those in attendance were invited to sit and watch seventh-graders do the show, which included acrobatics, music, unicycling and lyra. A lyra, or an aerial hoop, is usually suspended from a ceiling, but a Bobcat excavator was used to hold it in the outdoor setting.
At 3:30 p.m. members of the class put on a special magic show. “The show went a lot better than I expected,” class member Mason Kempf said.
Lydell Steiner, a parent of one of the students, helped them as needed as they were planning the event. “They learned to take a risk, to try something they had never done before, and they were rewarded with a great outcome, not for their personal financial benefit, but for the benefit of others and the broader community,” Steiner said.
“Our class decided to do this to raise money for a nonprofit organization and for fun memories. This is our first time doing this. We are planning to continue it in years ahead,” said Paisley Ellington, a seventh-grader who was part of the leadership team that helped her class organize the event along with Sofia Steiner, Savannah Weaver, Thea Steiner, Aaron Weaver, Veena Shue and Legna Dickens.
A few minor problems came up during the afternoon including the wind blowing things away and a pony trying to escape. But overall, the event was a success, and the class was able to raise $3,932.67 for Open Arms Ministry.
“I would say the biggest challenge was getting the word out and inviting people to come, but as we continue this, we will get better,” Ellington said. “You should definitely come if we do it next year. We put a lot of hard work into this. We are a talented class.”
“In the end I am so proud of this group of seventh-graders,” Steiner said. “This was their project. They organized it from A-to-Z; they put the work in.
“This wasn’t organized by the teachers or the parents. It was the youth who did the work, not for a grade or because someone told them they had to, but simply because they wanted to do something great together.”