Moorestown High School was splashed with color on April 2, the day before spring break for the schools. Up and down the hallways were the colors of orange, blue, green and red, all worn by different grade levels in support of a class-unifying and altruistic event.
In its fourth year, MHS held its annual Color Clash event, which brought all classes together to raise money for a charitable cause and have a fun day full of activities. This year, MHS students chose to raise money by selling t-shirts and collecting an extra $1 per shirt for breast cancer research in honor of a staff member who was diagnosed with breast cancer last year. The school ended up raising more than $1,500.
“It’s designed to unify the classes in an event and charity they support. They choose the charity,” Lisa Trapani, Color Clash coordinator, said.
“I’m new to it, but it sounds like a great event for the school to come together and support something greater, such as a charity,” freshman class president Joey DiMarino said.
In the past, classes have given money to Ronald McDonald House, families affected by a bus crash and for building a park.
“The main premise of the day is that it is a day of charity and a day of giving back to the community,” senior class president Brian Trainer said.
Students raise money by selling different colored t-shirts for each class, asking for an extra dollar per shirt to donate toward the charity of choice.
“We figured, we’re big enough here at Moorestown, if we receive a dollar a kid we would be able to make a significant donation,” Trainer said.
This year, it is really hitting home with MHS because they chose a charity that has affected one of their staff members. After being diagnosed with breast cancer and getting treatments with Dr. Amy Clark, an oncologist at the University of Pennsylvania, the students decided to raise money toward Clark’s own individual breast cancer research. The staff member, who wished to remain unidentified, felt very humbled and happy the students were raising money to find a cure for breast cancer and that they knew exactly where the money was going.
New to Color Clash this year was the “No Texting While Driving” program. Run by school police officer Bryan Wright, a few kids from each grade came together to create a program to raise awareness about how texting and driving could affect the community. This involved taking pledges, doing different activities and spreading awareness. There was also the “No Texting While Driving” logo on the sides of the t-shirts that were sold.
Color Clash began with an assembly given by Dr. Michael Fallon, who spoke to the students about not being invisible to yourself or anyone around you, having respect for everybody else and being your own person.
“One thing we also stress during Color Clash is class unity and self-unity within the community. Although we are raising awareness for charities, we also think about our personal selves and how we can make each other better,” junior class president Robert McGarity said. “He did a really good job of talking to us and reaching deep into our minds. We really appreciate it. It was a very touching assembly.”
The students went throughout their day on a shorter schedule so the really fun activities of Color Clash could begin. The last hour of the day, students and teachers came together in one of the gyms to play giant volleyball, pizza box carry and giant bowling, along with a little teacher surprise activity. Students and teachers played together in each grade to have fun in each activity.
“It’s a fun time to hopefully get the crowd laughing and happy, and culminate the entire school at the end of the day,” Trainer said.
Ultimately, students had a fun time cheering on classmates and teachers and were proud to hear that they raised more than $1,500 for the fight against breast cancer.
