Eagles Answer the Call to Invisible Children Student Government representatives pose while working the concessions stand at movie night last Monday. - Brittany Truong Advertising Sunday, December 04, 2011 By Brittany Truong Several months ago, volunteers from Invisible Children came to Dakota Ridge to inform the students about the crisis in Uganda. The country is currently in a civil war, and they have kidnapped young children to serve in the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) led by Joseph Kony. The volunteers presented a video encouraging teenagers to raise money to rebuild different regions of Northern Uganda that have been destroyed by the civil war. They also asked for help in raising money to provide scholarships for kids to go to school. Dakota Ridge’s student government took this opportunity to begin planning what they could do to help. They have organized several different fundraisers, including a Black Light dance for December 10th. “When the Invisible Children assembly came to our school, our whole class just knew that’s what we wanted to dedicate the Black Light Dance to. We already knew we were going to have [another dance] and dedicate the proceeds to charity, but we couldn’t decide on which charity,” explains Meri-Claire Montgomery (11). Student government member, Madison Suazo (10) states that it was actually her idea to connect the two together. “I’m really passionate about the situation. My heart goes out to those who are less educated,” informs Suazo. “I’ve done a lot of research about Africa from before, and I believe that all kids should be able to receive the education that each of us has.” For the first two weeks of December, student government has organized several different fundraisers to help raise money, leading up to the Black Light dance. On Tuesday night, the Lion King was showcased in the auditorium. The admission was free, but students were encouraged to donate any extra money and buy food from the concessions stand. All proceeds would go to Invisible Children. Junior, Jack Kotarba, states, “I thought the movie night was really good, but there weren’t as many people as I expected. The Lion King is the best movie of all time, and it was free - which was awesome.” Student government has also waged a penny war between the different grade levels. Freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors are battling against one another to see who can raise the most money. However, there’s also a twist: students can place dollar bills into another class’ bin to deduct the other’s points. “The coins and bills are counted on a penny scale, so if there is a dollar in the freshmen jar, then that takes away 100 points,” explains Montgomery. In addition, the restaurants, Sonic and Village Inn, will donate 10% of its proceeds to Invisible Children, if DRHS students eat there next week. “When [Invisible Children] came to our school, we realized how lucky and what [opportunities] we have, and we wanted to allow the other kids [of Uganda] to have that same opportunity,” informs Montgomery. “I think that this is the best thing that student government has done in the three years that I’ve been at this school,” states Kotarba. “[Invisible children] is a cause that I feel for and it’s terrible and we need to do something about it.” Dakota Ridge has certainly risen to the call of Invisible Children and are doing all that they can to set the children free and give them a better life.

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