Each year, the junior class officers organize a Valentine’s Day tradition called “candy grams” that allows students to send candy and personalized notes to friends and teachers for $2 each. All proceeds from the fundraiser are donated to the North Texas Food Bank. 

The officers are tasked with planning the logistics of the event, including selecting the candy to sell, designing order forms and deciding on a fundraising goal. After considering several candy options, the officers decided on Ring Pops, which were purchased in bulk.  

“I thought it was going to be a one and done, just one meeting, but it is actually a long process since we have to start with how much money we wanted to raise, what the order forms were going to look like and what type of candy we wanted to sell,” junior class Vice President Hazel Goes-Young said. “We also had to think about profit, like how much candy we were going to buy and how much that is going to cost.” 

After the candy grams were delivered on Feb. 12, both students and teachers noted positive feedback for the officers.

“I feel really good about it. Honestly, I was a little bit worried at first because we kind of fell behind schedule with the delivery because one of our officers got sick,” Goes-Young said. “But it was really fun to deliver everyone’s little orders, especially the teachers. I loved seeing Dr. Parnell so happy about it.”  

This year, the project aimed to raise $500, but ultimately raised $400 for the North Texas Food Bank.  

“I kind of wish we raised a bit more money,” Goes-Young said. “But it was overall a fun experience.”