High school bucket drive raises a ton of cash

A two-day bucket drive for Ratihén:te High School graduates gained almost $12,000, surpassing the school’s goal to raise about $20,000 for senior graduates.

School staff and graduates stood in cold, rainy weather for two days, May 2 and May 8, for about six hours for the bucket drive, said Lizane Montreuil, teacher and organizer at the high school.

Because of the community’s generosity, the students will have all prom costs covered for 105 attendees - six graduates plus their family and some friends.

But they will also get another bonus. All graduates will receive a graduation gift from the school, said Montreuil.

“I want to say niá:wen to everybody that were so generous,” said Montreuil.

“Every time they were passing, they were asking ‘what is it for?’ and when we said ‘for the kids, it’s for their graduation,’ they were like ‘Oh congratulations! You guys are graduating, we’re so proud of you.’ And every time we were saying it was for graduation, they were donating.”

An April 2 Indian taco fundraiser gained about $4,900 after selling between 250 to 300 tacos, bringing the graduate funds to about $10,000. The school will not run another graduate fundraiser for this school year, said Montreuil.

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Hadassah Alencar, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter