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Health & Fitness

WHS To Host Dodgeball Tournament to Benefit Heifer International

Dodgeball Tournament right after school at WHS to benefit Heifer International. Tickets are $5, food will be sold, and there will be a raffle.

What do dodgeball and cows have in common? This Friday at the Contemporary World Issues Class will show you.

Right after school, students from all four grades have the opportunity to join in on a Dodgeball Tournament to raise money for something noble: Heifer International. How did this unique event come about? I asked one student in the class, senior Derek Shay, to tell me more.

The Contemporary World Issues class is one of the most interesting and coveted courses in the WHS handbook. It is offered to juniors and seniors as a history elective. Derek, a member this year, explains, “it focuses on issues around the world as well as cultural anthropology,” bringing students in touch with current issues and news worldwide. I personally did not have the opportunity to take this course, which hurt the most when I learned about their yearlong project that this year will take the form of a dodgeball tournament. In this collaborative effort, “the class takes an active role in solving an international issue” which was mainly why Derek enrolled in this class: “to take the chance to put on a school-wide fundraiser”.

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Last year, the class put on a very successful 3v3 basketball tournament. Derek hopes this year that they can raise even more money for this new idea which he brought to the class and “everyone thought it was a great idea.” 

Learning daily what calamities and misfortunes mar the earth’s surface, the class had an important decision to make when it came to what cause they would support this year. In a bake sale earlier this year, they raised funds for "Razia's Ray of Hope [..] an organization which helps girls in Afghanistan attend school and avoid poverty and early marriage." But what about the dodgeball tournament? By voting, Heifer International became the class’ choice.

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Derek kindly told me why:

“We chose Heifer because it is an organization which has been addressing a very basic need for a very long time. Heifer gives livestock, meticulously monitors the progress of all of its projects, and does not leave a project until the community has benefited from the animals. Each case in which Heifer helps is unique, and through their efforts countless communities have been lifted out of poverty and are not only able to provide for themselves with food, but also are able to attain a sustainable source of income and share their gift of livestock with another community member, lifting an entire village out of poverty.”

Who wouldn’t want to help make that kind of difference?

If you’re thinking what I’m thinking… your opportunity to do that is this Friday! In the WHS gym, from 3 to 6 p.m., you can come see the students of WHS go after each other in the good-spirit and fun-loving game of dodgeball. Teams are all registered by now, but spectators can enter with just $5. Students should also remember money for the raffle, which includes the following incredible prizes: 2 pairs of Red Sox tickets; 1 pair of Celtics Tickets; gift cards to JP Licks, Quodoba, Bertucci’s and the School Store; 2 one-week free passes to Boston Sports Class; and last but not least, a homemade cake.

For the members of the class, Friday marks the near end to a year’s worth of work. “I am really looking forward to raising a lot of money for heifer, emceeing the event, beating down all of the other teams and winning a week's worth of Qudoba,” says Derek.

So don’t miss out on this great event for this great cause.

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