J. Taylor Finley Middle School’s National Junior Honor Society chapter is a thriving group of young scholars who all want to make the world a better place. It’s an inspiring collection of students who are a real credit to their families and the community at large.
The organization routinely raises funds for good causes. Faculty and staff members typically pitch in to make these fundraising initiatives a success. Students join in on the fun and help support the efforts, too.
The J. Taylor Finley Middle School National Junior Honor Society chapter is led by Will Fallon (president), Josie Sullivan (vice president), Brenna Ackerman (secretary) and Emily Kustera (treasurer). Teacher Amy Hughes is the organization’s faculty advisor.
One of this year’s initiatives included a “Decorate the Staff Member” campaign, which raised monies for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s Hero Squad program.
“We normally do a culminating activity where the students pay a dollar to buy a piece of duct tape to ‘tape’ a teacher to the wall in the gym,” Mrs. Hughes explained. “This year, due to COVID-19, the teachers who volunteered came up with the idea of the kids buying decorations by donating $2 and sticking it on one of the vinyl posters of those teachers hanging in the main lobby Blue Zone.”
The organization ordered banners from Costco depicting Finley Principal Traci Roethel and teachers Jennifer DiMattei, Denise Grodzicki and Katie Kid from Costco and allowed the students make their donations online to their classroom fundraising pages.
Students went to Mrs. Hughes’ room and picked the decorations they wanted to use on the banners. “The students had a fun time doing this activity and we were able to raise $1,050 for cancer research,” Mrs. Hughes said.
