Originally published in the 4/20/17 print edition of Yellowstone County News.
HUNTLEY PROJECT — You may recall the epic battles of history: The Thrilla in Manilla. The Rumble in the Jungle.
Coke vs. Pepsi.
Fasten your seatbelts for the Battle for the Bridge.
It’s Shepherd Public Schools (the challenger) vs. Huntley Project Schools and it all ends April 30.
The outcome of this battle is still in the balance, but both sides already know who the winner is: the American Cancer Society’s research funded by Relay For Life.
Each school has until April 30 to raise as much money as it can for Relay For Life, through the school version, called Relay Recess.
Shepherd students have experience at this cause, since they’ve participated in successful mini-relays on the last day of school for several years. In fact, the Shepherd event, in part a tribute to teacher John Barta, who died of cancer last year, is second only to the countywide annual Relay For Life event in terms of fundraising in Yellowstone County.
Frank Hollowell, principal at Huntley Project Junior High, told the HP School Board Monday night that the challenge has been fun so far. Shepherd challenged Huntley Project and both schools are rising to the occasion.
Shepherd hosted a fundraising dinner at MacKenzie River Pizza earlier this month and are doing other fundraisers, including collecting pennies and selling doughnuts. HP students have participated in two hat days, where students pay a dollar — or more — for the privilege of wearing a hat to school on a Friday. The school will have a fundraising dinner at Hooligan’s in Billings on April 30, where 20 percent of every purchase goes to the school.
The first HP hat day raised about $1,100, Hollowell said. Another is planned for this Friday. As of Tuesday, Shepherd held a slight edge with $2,675. 50 while HP had raised $2,622.58. Hollowell alluded in a humorous aside that it seemed a little fishy that Shepherd claimed such a small lead.
Part of HP’s total comes from out of town grandparents and relatives who have mailed in checks, Hollowell said.
The school that raises the most money for Relay For Life will receive a trophy, which prompted Hollowell to call Craig McKinney at Shepherd. He wanted to know how big the trophy is, so he can order a trophy case big enough to fit. Shepherd students did not receive this idea very well, Hollowell said.
Hollowell welcomes donations from community members who may not have kids in school or who haven’t heard about the Battle For the Bridge.
“Be sure to donate to Huntley Project,” he said, somewhat slyly.
“He’s so full of it,” said McKinney, with a laugh. McKinney, a Shepherd Middle School teacher and also a youth coordinator for Relay Recess, said Hollowell dragged him over to the trophy case area at Huntley Project last week to show him where the traveling trophy would go, when McKinney went to pick up HP’s donations for the week.
McKinney has no idea how big the trophy is.
“The Relay people are working on the trophy,” he said. “I’ll be interested to see what they come up with.”
McKinney said Shepherd students have been working with Relay Recess throughout the school year, which includes fundraising, lessons on nutrition and cancer prevention and special speakers. For the past several years, students in kindergarten through eighth grade have put on a Relay Recess on the last day of school that includes laps around the track, cancer awareness presentations and special speakers.
Raising money to fight cancer is an important part of Relay Recess, McKinney said, but “it’s also making kids aware of what they can do to prevent themselves from getting cancer.”
Shepherd will end the school year with Relay Recess on the track from 8:30 to 10 a.m. on Friday, May 25.
“We wanted to get more schools involved,” McKinney said, so students proposed the April month-long fundraising challenge to about 25 area B and C schools. Huntley Project was the only school that accepted the challenge this year, McKinney said, but several indicated they may come on board next year, potentially expanding the Battle for the Bridge.
“The elementary kids are really getting into it,” said McKinney, chucking money into a penny war at Shepherd and tossing it into a fish tank at Huntley Project.
For their part, superintendents Scott Carter at Shepherd and Mark Wandle at Huntley Project have agreed that if their school does not win, they will dress in the school colors of the opposing school on the last day of school. Carter would wear red and black, Wandle would wear blue and gold.
“So it’s a wardrobe battle more than anything else,” McKinney said.
People who want to contribute to the Battle for the Bridge can find out more by searching for Relay Recess of Montana on Facebook, McKinney said. They can send money to him at Shepherd or to Hollowell at HP, writing checks to the American Cancer Society.
“Relay is the big winner,” McKinney said — students at the two schools have raised over $5,000 in less than two weeks.
“I don’t know who counts their money over there,” McKinney said, a sly aside to Hollowell’s note about how much each school had raised. “I don’t count it, the bank does. He may think I count it, but I don’t. It’s all on the up and up.”
