The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Students usually pull all-nighters to cram for a big test or finish up a book report that should have been done weeks earlier. But over the weekend, a group of junior high students had a different reason for staying up. They wanted to help in the aftermath of one of the worst natural disasters the world has seen. Nearly 30 Parkdale School students left their school exhausted Saturday morning after collecting over $1,600 in a fatigue-inducing fundraiser for the tsunami relief efforts. "I was impressed that they were willing to do something like this," said principal Bill Pauley, one of the chaperones, adding that he was equally impressed by the amount pledged. From 8 p.m. Friday to 8 a.m. Saturday, the students looked for ways to keep themselves busy, if not awake, through the so-called wake-a-thon. Some took part in basketball in the gymnasium. Others spent time on computers or played board games. Down in the music room, one group watched a movie. Pauley said the kids had fun but added with a laugh that "they were getting a little grumpy by morning." Before heading home, the students gathered to discuss how lousy they felt after missing just one night of sleep Ð nothing compared to what children whose lives have been touched by the tsunami are going through. The idea for the all-nighter came from the student council, whose members were eager to help out after learning in science class just how devastating the tsunami has been. "We wanted to do something that people could pledge towards," explained Stephanie Kozar, student council president. Each of the 27 participating students collected an average of more than $59 in pledges. The total of over $1,600 will be donated to the relief efforts through the Canadian Red Cross. Eddie's Family Foods helped make the wake-a-thon possible by donating groceries for the students to eat and to sell in their concession. It's not too late to make a belated pledge. To do so, phone Parkdale at 687-4954.
