By Samantha Stuefer –
On November 13, Lincoln High held our annual Hoops for Hope game – an event where teachers play each other in a basket- ball tournament and students coach. Tickets were only $3.00, and the proceeds went to the Make-A-Wish foundation.
The Make-A-Wish foundation is a foundation where children who have been diagnosed with terminal illnesses are granted some sort of wish. These kids are from the United States and also our surrounding territories. And, on average, a wish is made true about every 37 minutes.
“So other schools raise money for Make-A-Wish, but they don’t do Hoops for Hope,” English teacher and Student Council Sponsor Nicole Barnes said. “That’s some- thing that is unique to Lincoln High.”
Hoops for Hope was started about 5 years ago by a different Student Council Sponsor. “My first year here, Andy Ngo was president, and it kind of seemed like he breathed life back into it. Now it’s just like this big thing again, and it just keeps grow-ing every year,” Barnes said.
Last year, Hoops for Hope raised $2,000 dollars for the Make-A-Wish foundation. This year, they raised $4,500.
“We have to pay back Athletics for the pop that we sold at the concession stand, but we are looking at about $4,500,” Barnes said.
There has been some talk from students, though, that the Red Team (who is also the winning team), might have cheated, though even that was all in fun.
“I’ve heard from multiple sources [students in her class] that they were giving 6 points for free throw points, which should have been worth 1 point,” Social Studies teacher Lindsey Herting said. “I don’t know that one-hundred percent, but I have reason
to believe that there was some foul play happening.”
“I was asked to be the scorekeeper at the last minute and with a quick training was set to the task. I made a few errors initially due to the fact that I wasn’t up to speed on using the scoreboard,” scorekeeper and counselor Jodie Green said. “However, that led me to determine that the female teachers should earn more points for their successful baskets. So each female staff member scoring a shot would earn 5 points. A three-point shot earned a female 6 points.”
The event also went into overtime.
“I was told to tie the game when the clock sounded to end the game,” Green said. “Even though Mr. Beckmann scored a winning shot, I did not give him the points. During overtime the only exception to correct scoring was for the females who always earned 5 points.”
“The officials decided that the last basket that the Red Team made didn’t count, and so we went into overtime,” Barnes explained. The game ended with very close scores, something around 69 to 70 Barnes said.
During half-time, Pomalinks performed, but, there was another surprise. William, a Make-A-Wish recipient who attended Hoops for Hope, was able to speak and tell his story in front of everybody.
“I think that he was inspired by just the entire event and I think that he was very honored to get to speak to everybody,” Barnes said.
“My favorite part was when Will explained his story and told us about where he went for his wish,” said junior Shoshana Schreiber who attended the event.
Will went to Sydney, Australia for his wish.
“I also enjoyed being with friends and raising money for the Make- A-Wish foundation,” Schreiber said.
The Monday after the game, classrooms were still buzzing. All the students who attended were still excited about the event.
“Students seemed to be having a good time,” Herting said. “They seemed to be very enthusiastic, and they seemed to be, depend- ing on what color they were wearing, rooting for their teachers.” She added, “If they weren’t rooting for the Black Team, they were rooting for the wrong team.”
“The whole thing was great,” said Aundra Gilbert, Student Coach for the Red Team. He also said that the event was a great blessing to hold at Lincoln High.
Gilbert also said he had a lot of fun coaching his teachers. “Especially the ones that gave me extra homework,” Gilbert said.
Student Coach for the Black Team Joseph Carlson really enjoyed coaching the teachers. “Coaching was really fun. I’ve never coached a team before so being able to get out there and being able to tell people who can go in and who can go out,” Carlson said.
“I hope we continue to do this again, and again, and again because I think it’s an awesome opportunity to raise some money for a great cause and I think students, from what I perceived, really enjoyed it, too.” Herting said.
“It’s definitely a well-funded foundation and they [LHS] should continue going with it [Hoops for Hope],” Gilbert said.
“I had a really good time,” Carlson said. “It’s for a good cause and it was really fun so I’m glad we could have done what we did and raise a lot of money for Make-A- Wish.”
