By Jane Boyd –

The View –  

Faida Bea, the young daughter of the founder of the Muanjadi Organization, had just finished an African dance before the crowd in the gym during halftime of the April 8 faculty basketball game fundraiser for MAD Week.

The crowd’s reaction — an astounding amount of yelling and cheering —moved her to tears.

“I’m crying because I’m so happy,” she said.

Before the game, Castle View had raised about $11,400 in its MAD Week campaign to send 140 girls to high school and five girls to college in Democratic Republic of Congo.

After the game, another $1,235 went into the pot. And as of late Wednesday night, MAD Week surpassed the goal of $13,000 by $500. Student government is discussing a new goal to reach.

The Muanjadi Organization’s mission is to educate young girls and women through high school and into college in the west African country where tradition often has girls as young as 13 being married off to older men.

Castle View’s French Honor Society, which nominated the organization, wants to provide those girls with the education they need to in turn educate generations to come. The French Honor Society, on its own, has already sponsored 11 girls over several years.

Throughout the week, money has been raised through MAD Minutes, doughnut sales, T-shirt sales and food nights.

MAD Minutes, Doughnuts and T-shirts

During the MAD Minute, held once every day, students rush to pod entrances to put money in for their academies. “It’s really fun,” freshman Camdyn Wood said. “I’ve had a really good experience so far.”

Student government representatives Noah Gibbs and Spencer Leevers, both sophomores, sold doughnuts for $1 each on Wednesday. “I just yelled out, ‘Doughnuts!’ and we ended up selling out within minutes of getting our box of doughnuts,” Gibbs said.

By Wednesday’s lunch, small sizes of T-Shirts bearing the Muanjadi logo had already sold out. Mediums were selling extremely fast — during first lunch alone, students bought more than 20 mediums and five larges. That all translated to at least $375 raised for the Muanjadi Organization.

Dodgeball

During the ongoing dodgeball tournament, held during advisement all week, spectators filled the seats and cheered for their favorite team.

Junior Jackson Chase played Wednesday on The Throwers with a broken foot. Playing on a broken foot “is hilarious,” Chase said. “It’s actually really hard to dodge the balls. I have to scoot on my butt.”

Chase and his team won their first game two to one, but lost to their next opponent, team Big Shot Bob. Christian Johnson, a learning specialist at Castle View, threw down the challenge at the start of the game: “Big Shot Bob’s team is going to win.” And they did.

Librarian Ryan Whitenack refereed the games.

“It’s a little fast and furious out there,” he said of the game’s speed and attitude. “A little too fast for me.”

Freshman Johnny Terry, whose team also claimed victory Wednesday, agreed. “It’s pretty intense.”

The “Big Event” basketball game and challenges

During the “Big Event” Wednesday night, a lip sync battle between academies took place before the basketball game.

Ethan Walker and Jalen Cavanaugh held Megan Kowalis up in the air as they lip-sang “It’s Raining Men” with a few others. Their group won the battle, scoring a win for LGC.

Also participating in the battle was science teacher Kyle Erlenbeck. He competed for BHS doing the rap part of the “Pitch Perfect” Bellas’ final song.

Bea and her brother, who goes by “JJ,” performed the halftime show. Bea’s mother, Sandra, who founded the Muanjadi Organization, taught her how to dance and she taught her brother. They perform often, she said, and always have a blast.

The crowd’s energy didn’t die down until the end of the game when the LGC/BHS/MOSAIC team beat the STEM/VPA team 69-50.

Social studies teacher and basketball coach Patrick Simpson participated in his first MAD Week and first “Big Event.” He wants to be a part of it again next year. He hasn’t seen anything like this before.

“It is really gratifying to see so many students and staff participating,” said student government teacher Bob Sutterer. “I didn’t expect to reach our goal by Wednesday night. But I’m glad we did.”