Magazine Madness

The Magazine Drive is not all about the rivalries — it’s about supporting and building a stronger community.

Imagine a school with no outside activities. No clubs, no sports, no arts. Just seven hours of sitting and learning. How boring would that be? These activities give life to learning and excitement to school.

Every fall at CB, a magazine drive takes place. Envelopes go out, monetary goals are set, and the selling begins. The drive is CB’s most significant fundraiser for the year.

“[The magazine drive] really is a win-win,” says CB principal Mrs. Mary Hesser. “Basically it is our one single fundraiser. It is not only a way to increase school spirit, but the outcome directly serves our kids.”

Through the magazine drive, students get the opportunity to raise large sums of money, which goes straight back to student clubs, projects, athletic groups and trips.

“It’s giving the kids an opportunity to be responsible for themselves and to make some pretty important financial decisions,” Senior Class Moderator Mr. Tom English describes. “They get to make decisions as to what is worthwhile and what’s not. Its actually empowering them to be more financially astute.”

To reiterate the importance of this fundraiser, remember that the drive benefits the whole CB community, not just individuals or exclusive groups.

“Our school needs this funding for all our clubs, our sports and without this funding, we wouldn’t have the clubs that we have,” Mr. Sean Morris said.

But in order to reach the school goal, all students need to participate. Teachers have different strategies for involving their students in the magazine drive. Mr. English has quite a bit of experience in this fundraiser, so he has had time to learn some effective ways.

Mr. English encourages his students to sell by telling them, “You want him to buy you pizza, you don’t want me to buy them pizza.”

“To get the kids hooked, you’ve got to come up with something that is competitive in nature,” he explained. “What works is when kids know two teachers are willing to compete with each other and they are willing to do something different, the loser for the winner. Mr. Hogan and I picked the obvious and that’s food. Kids will work for pizza.”

Seems fair enough.

“Its just to get them involved in the rivalry,” he continued. “That seems to be the best thing. Usually when there’s a direct competition its a little more of an incentive because they see the personal result.”

Mr. Morris has a slightly different approach. He prefers to show his students “the dream…the mission.” He knows that competition and rivalries are all part of the fun, but the overall purpose is most important.

“It’s the goal and the mission of what does the magazine drive serves, and that’s to benefit our community.”

By raising significant amounts of money, students can do more with their clubs and sports and become more involved in their activities.

It is true that magazine sales come with self-motivation by the students, so it is important to consider the whole CB community, and the opportunities that come with working together to achieve the overall goal as a community.

Suzanne Swanson (’15) and Gelli Pascual (‘15) are two students who have sold for the benefit of CB’s community.

“Its good for the CB community because it supports our clubs,” Suzanne expressed.

But Gelli is also very interested in the possibility of an extended weekend. “Who doesn’t want a five day weekend?” she asked.

But beyond the instant gratification of receiving pizza or bragging rights or even the luxurious long weekend, is the most important aspect of the drive: what it offers our community on a deeper level.

Self-motivation plays a huge role in the success of the magazine drive. We have the power to better our school. It is just a matter of taking it into our own hands.