By J1 Reporters: Brianna Dovali and Anne Masek

You pull into the Marian parking lot on a chilly Friday morning getting ready to walk for Walk-a-Thon (WAT). You see Marian girls left and right wearing tie-dye masks. Where did they come from? The Junior Class Officers worked together to come up with this creative way to raise money for the Junior class goal. Over a period of two weeks, Marian girls in every grade level put in orders for 140 masks, bringing in just under $1,000.         

The class officers brainstormed and finally came up with the idea of making and selling masks. They planned a day to meet at Junior Class President, Cali D’Agosto’s house to work on them. The six Class Officers and a Student Board member, Ryan Sully, who donated the masks, worked all morning dyeing each mask individually. 

D’Agosto described the process, “After we dyed them, eight hours later my mom and I rinsed them out, washed, and dried them. Then my mom ironed all the WAT 2020 letters to the bottom of the masks. We then packaged them by homeroom and Mr. Panning put them in teacher mailboxes! It was a crazy process, but I’m so happy at how it all turned out!” As tedious and time consuming making the masks were, the end result ended up helping the overall class total of $20,923.

When the juniors saw how many students were wearing them, they were also surprised to spot some teachers sporting them as well. Mrs. Karen Coolidge, a study hall moderator, especially loved them. She says that she really enjoyed the Venmo opportunity which made the process of handling physical money limited. “It was a fantastic idea, especially because right now it is a necessity for everyone. I loved it because I am proud of my school and it was a good way to support the class!” Coolidge said. 

Coolidge was one of the many people in the Marian community who really enjoyed their mask.  Other faculty and staff members who purchased masks include Principal Susie Sullivan, Mr. Panning, and Mrs. Higgins. These masks help display the Marian community unified together.