Hats On to Troops
December 3, 2009 • written by Samantha Hartfiel
Normally, when walking down the hallways of Park High School, students who are wearing any kind of hat, hood, or cap on their head would be immediately scolded to take it off. However, the students of Park High School were allotted the special indulgence to wear a hat to school on Wednesday November 25th for the first time all year. There was only one condition; students had to donate one item to the troops in order to wear the headgear of their choice.
The second annual Hat Day, hosted by National Honor Society, was a fairly successful endeavor, with scholars collecting about 200 items that will be donated to Minnesota troops overseas. Cans of soup, car magazines, and candy were traded in for the opportunity to don baseball hats, ski caps, or fashionable berets. Some students even went all out, wearing attention seeking Cat in the Hat hats or generously giving board games such as Clue and Scrabble. Even some teachers took the occasion to contribute such as Mrs. Shea from the math department.
Miranda Solei, a senior who donated ramen noodles for the chance to wear a purple ski cap, thought that the Hat Day was a really worthy idea.
“People miss wearing hats and it’s for a good cause” Solei stated.
Also, some individuals seized the opportunity to provide without feeling the need to wear a hat in return.
“I do not need an incentive to donate,” one anonymous woman said as she placed some canned food on the donation table, “I just wanted to help out.”
However, while the Hat Day appeared to be decently successful, there was a feeling that the benefit could have been more fruitful if the event was promoted more. Posters and announcements were only put out the Monday before the actual event, leaving little time for students to prepare items to share. This caused a negative impact since it was recommended that magazines, paperback books, or snack foods be donated, so many had to shop to get items, which added inconvenience to the time crunch. However, this did not stop some from bringing in magazines from the early 2000’s or Mary Kate and Ashley chapter books, which were not necessarily suitable for the young men and women overseas. Yet, the thoughts were very generous.
Unfortunately, many students claimed not to be aware that the event was happening and were disappointed that they missed the chance. Luckily for these people, the National Honor Society will host a second Hat Day later on in the year, in which donated items will be brought to the Friends in Need Food Shelf. Hopefully, the members of the National Honor Society will learn that the more the event is promoted, the more students will give.
The second annual Hat Day was a wonderful example of the generosity of the Park High School student body, and all who donated are much appreciated.
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