Every year at Cherokee Trail high school, the student body unifies to help raise money for a child in need. This event is referred to as wish week. While the entirety of CT plays a monumental role in this tradition, the individuals who really pull it together are the leadership staff. Through their hard work and dedication, they help to create a loving and welcoming environment for children experiencing life-threatening illness.
The students involved in the leadership program spend everyday doing their best to help the community improve. They are very enthusiastic when it comes to helping out with these crucial events. “Wish Week, to me, is all about committing to a cause that’s greater than my own. We do Wish Week to come together as a community to grant the wishes of kids who have not been as lucky as we have, and to help them experience their dream.” (Delaney Derrick, 11) Her passion for this year’s wish week child shines through along with her eagerness to advocate for school spirit and involvement. The leadership crew is able to turn a tragic time for a wish child and their family into a fun and uplifting week for the school. They are also extremely successful in running events that help to support the cause and raise money.
While students are very important to the goal, without the teacher’s involvement in leadership, they could not pull it off. The leadership body continues to work even harder every year to involve more people around the community and make the events even better than the previous year. “While our Wish Weeks have always been a success, we know we can always do better! One of Student Leadership’s goals is to continually involve our feeder schools more, such as through assemblies and spirit days of their own. We also would like to continually grow CT’s own involvement by inviting more student groups (sports, clubs, etc) to participate in Wish Week events, like decorating the school.” (Mrs. Meredith James).
Wish Week has helped numerous children find an outlet for their happiness in a previously bleak time and continues to teach people of all ages how to help their community when it’s needed most.
