Friday, January 28, 2011 4:18 pm
CASEY RIFFE/Gazette Staff Brittney Hoffman, 13, center, her twin sister Brenna, left, and friend Lisa Berger wear hats during lunch at Riverside Middle School on Friday. The Riverside Builders Club organized the “Hats for Hay” day as a fundraiser to buy hay for the Leachman horses.
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Riverside Middle School students came to campus dressed in style on Friday.
The Billings seventh- and eighth-graders wore baseball caps and knitted hats, a faux fedora, a gold tiara, a large sombrero and even a hat with a propeller on top.
About 200 students took advantage of the exception to the no-hats rule to raise money.
Members of the Riverside Builders Club organized "Hats for Hay" to collect money to help feed the hundreds of malnourished horses on the Leachman Cattle Co. ranch. By 8:30 a.m., club members had collected $200.
The school's lunch crew also collected loose quarters from students in the cafeteria to add to the donation total.
A trio of seventh-grade girls who belong to the Builders Club sat together during lunch, each in a different hat, munching and chatting. Brenna Hoffman, 13, wore a blue visor with a paw on it, representing the school's mascot, a cougar.
Asked if she paid the dollar to help the horses or so she could wear a cap, Brenna replied "both."
"I wish we could do more to help the horses," she said over the din of the packed cafeteria.
But the fundraiser, and all of the other projects that the student service club does in and outside of school, are good, she said.
"It helps the students know more about the community and what needs to be done, so it extends their knowledge," Brenna said.
Her twin sister, Brittney, said she definitely paid the money to help the horses.
"I hate wearing hats," she said, a colorful knitted cap on her head.
Their friend, Lisa Berger, in her ear-warming ushanka hat said hearing about the suffering horses made her sad, "and something should be done to help them."
Being part of a club that helps both animals and people is important, she said.
"It builds character and it makes you a better person," Lisa said.
The Builders Club is sponsored by Kiwanis Village Golden K in Billings, said Cynthia Jessee, a seventh-grade language arts teacher and adviser to the Builders Club. The club boasts a membership of 100 students — about one-fifth the enrollment of the middle school, she said.
Throughout the school year, students do projects to help people at school, in the neighborhood, the city, the state, the nation and the world, Jessee said.
"We do one project for each of these" categories, she said.
Jessee said the projects fit in well with the school's focus this year, to implement Rachel's Challenge, which puts an emphasis on creating a positive culture on campus.
Members of the Builders Club came up with the idea of Hats for Hay at their Thursday meeting, Jessee said. She took the idea to Gordon Klasna, Riverside associate principal.
"He loved it and said, 'Let's do it tomorrow,' " Jessee said, so the club organized it and carried it out on Friday.
That's just one small example of all that the club's members are doing, she said.
"They have so much energy, and if you can focus and point it in the right direction, they will amaze you," Jessee said.
The Billings seventh- and eighth-graders wore baseball caps and knitted hats, a faux fedora, a gold tiara, a large sombrero and even a hat with a propeller on top.
About 200 students took advantage of the exception to the no-hats rule to raise money.
Members of the Riverside Builders Club organized "Hats for Hay" to collect money to help feed the hundreds of malnourished horses on the Leachman Cattle Co. ranch. By 8:30 a.m., club members had collected $200.
The school's lunch crew also collected loose quarters from students in the cafeteria to add to the donation total.
A trio of seventh-grade girls who belong to the Builders Club sat together during lunch, each in a different hat, munching and chatting. Brenna Hoffman, 13, wore a blue visor with a paw on it, representing the school's mascot, a cougar.
Asked if she paid the dollar to help the horses or so she could wear a cap, Brenna replied "both."
"I wish we could do more to help the horses," she said over the din of the packed cafeteria.
But the fundraiser, and all of the other projects that the student service club does in and outside of school, are good, she said.
"It helps the students know more about the community and what needs to be done, so it extends their knowledge," Brenna said.
Her twin sister, Brittney, said she definitely paid the money to help the horses.
"I hate wearing hats," she said, a colorful knitted cap on her head.
Their friend, Lisa Berger, in her ear-warming ushanka hat said hearing about the suffering horses made her sad, "and something should be done to help them."
Being part of a club that helps both animals and people is important, she said.
"It builds character and it makes you a better person," Lisa said.
The Builders Club is sponsored by Kiwanis Village Golden K in Billings, said Cynthia Jessee, a seventh-grade language arts teacher and adviser to the Builders Club. The club boasts a membership of 100 students — about one-fifth the enrollment of the middle school, she said.
Throughout the school year, students do projects to help people at school, in the neighborhood, the city, the state, the nation and the world, Jessee said.
"We do one project for each of these" categories, she said.
Jessee said the projects fit in well with the school's focus this year, to implement Rachel's Challenge, which puts an emphasis on creating a positive culture on campus.
Members of the Builders Club came up with the idea of Hats for Hay at their Thursday meeting, Jessee said. She took the idea to Gordon Klasna, Riverside associate principal.
"He loved it and said, 'Let's do it tomorrow,' " Jessee said, so the club organized it and carried it out on Friday.
That's just one small example of all that the club's members are doing, she said.
"They have so much energy, and if you can focus and point it in the right direction, they will amaze you," Jessee said.
