Although deceit and and cutthroat competition may seem to be unlikely bedfellows for fundraising and teamwork, these disparate traits are at the center of Sophomore Sabotage. Sophomore Sabotage, RBHS’ annual competition between sophomore World Studies classes to raise money for senior activities, ended today with a surprise 1st place finish from Graham/Sasser’s classes. Second was Nichols/Halphin and in third was Engebritson/Dingler. Sophomore Ashwini Mantrala, a student in one of Graham and Sasser’s AP World classes, said the win was an unlikely comeback.
“We were in last today, like this morning, so I have no idea how we ended up in first,” Mantrala said. “We were getting spiked left and right, and no one was bringing in anything, so I guess a couple people remembered today and brought in a bunch of money, and I guess it worked out.”
Organizer and student council representative sophomore Betsy Poehlman said the competition raised over $1,000 dollars for senior activities. Such an amount in the preliminary stages, she said, indicates the event was a smashing success.
“I think so far we did really good. Right now we don’t have the exact totals, but we know we raised more than 1,000 dollars, so that’s good,” Poehlman said. “That’s going to our senior activities, like prom and senior picnic.”
World history teacher David Graham said his classes’ success in Sophomore Sabotage is unimportant compared to the overall goal of raising cash for the future. However, he said the event allowed students to display their skills in leadership and planning.
“We’ve won more than we’ve lost. It’s just fun; it’s a great cause; it’s a great way to raise money so that you guys don’t have to spend much on your senior activities,” Graham said. “They did a great job. They were enthusiastic and excited, and they got other people enthusiastic and excited, so it was a great opportunity to collaborate [and] show some leadership, so it was great.”
By Adam Schoelz