Last year, students, their parents and the community paid good money to have teachers wear wedding dresses to work, agree to get duct taped to a wall and see Principal Tom Campbell dress as the Exeter Eagle for a day all in the fun and philanthropic spirit of Mini-THON, the Senior High's after-school club that raises thousands of dollars to fight pediatric cancer through creative fundraising challenges, such as collecting loose change and dumping it on first-period teachers' desks to race to count before they can begin class. Earlier this month, the club received their official fundraising total from the Four Diamonds, which is the non-profit that oversees Penn State's famed THON and dozens of other high school's Mini-THONs, and learned that they had collectively raised an astounding $19,081.25 during a year that was anything but normal and saw many of the club's usual events shortened or canceled entirely.
In addition to the fundraising events that involved teachers, students also created and planned their own activities to raise money, such as creating ornaments, hosting bake sales, selling t-shirts and sweatshirts, and organizing athletic tournaments. In May, they hosted their Mini-THON outside in the stadium, which was shortened from their normal 12 hours to 6, but was just as much fun for the students as they played volleyball, four-square, pickleball, giant yard games, cornhole, dodgeball and more. "Last year was not a normal year by any stretch of the imagination, but we could not have been more proud of our students for continuing to work so hard to support this worthwhile cause," said Ms. Courtney Harper, who advises Mini-THON along with Mrs. Amber Bollinger, who added a heartfelt, "Thank you to all students, teachers, volunteers, and businesses that helped make this event such a great success!"