North Kansas City School District pitches in for Joplin tornado relief

My former Diamond Middle School teaching colleague Rob Lundien writes to tell me that his school, Staley High School in the North Kansas City School District, is doing its part for the Joplin tornado relief effort. Rob, says that he and a couple of others in the school system had ties to people in Joplin. The following letter was sent to everyone at the school by the person coordinating the event:

Hi everyone,

There are several students and teachers here at Staley interested in doing a fundraiser to help the folks in Joplin out. After some brainstorming, we decided that the best way to raise a lot of money in a short amount of time would be to have a lock-in for Staley students here at the high school. We would charge the students a certain fee to attend (that amount is still being discussed), and that money would go to the Red Cross.

We've gotten the green light from administration to go ahead and do this next Tuesday night (the night before that last half-day of school). It would begin at 9 p.m. and end at 6 a.m., and we'll have all sorts of activities going on throughout the night. (Possibilities include a concert, talent show, dodgeball tournament, hold 'em tournament, Guitar Hero, etc.)

The biggest problem we're facing now is that we need your help chaperoning the event! If you can find it in your heart to come spend the night with us, we...and, indirectly, the people in Joplin...would definitely appreciate it.

The kids are actually pretty excited about the idea. I've asked all 6 of my classes and had well over 50% in each class say that they'd attend...a little scary, because that's potentially a LOT of kids, but at the same time that means potentially raising a lot of money.

In the end, the idea is that we raise as much money as possible and this can't be done without your help!

All money will be donated to the Red Cross and marked for helping people in Joplin.

Please let me know if you can help in any way, shape, or form. Even if you can't spend the night, if you can help with setting up beforehand, cleaning up afterward, promoting the lock-in, donating money...whatever capacity it is, we would really appreciate it.