This year for Make a Difference Day, Student Council orchestrated a fundraiser known as the Coin Stalls on Election Day, November 6.

“The idea was that students would bring in coins to stall class from starting,” Mrs. Lupone, one of the Student Leadership advisors, said. “The teacher would have to count all of the change that was on the desk in front of them before they could start class. The more coins that were brought in, the longer it took to start class. And you could also purchase time stallers; you could purchase the chopsticks, or the oven mitts, or the tongs, or whatever it was, to delay that start of class.”

The proceeds, more than  $6,000, were given to Focus Detroit.

“Focus Detroit is a charity in Detroit that helps to provide elementary school children with the resources that they need to get through the school day,” said Mrs. Lupone. “Breakfast, backpacks, supplies, things like that.”

Instead of using the same method each year to raise money for charities like Focus Detroit, a new approach was taken by the Student Council. Many students, such as Emily Mills, a sophomore and participant in the Coin Stalls, were more “excited” with this form of fundraising.

“I liked that it gave kids the opportunity to feel like they were making a difference in their classes and the community at the same time,” Emily said. “I thought it was more fun and more exciting than the [fundraisers] that have to do with, ‘Oh, vote for Michigan or Michigan State.’ For people who aren’t sports fans, that’s not really fun. Everyone’s interested in not doing classwork, though.”

The fundraiser was also a competition among teachers to raise the most money each hour. Mrs. Small, a 10th grade American History teacher, and ASL teacher Ms. Grier’s third hour won the fundraiser by raising the most amount of money in their classes. They received prizes for their work in helping Focus Detroit.

In regards to the future of coin stalls, Student Leadership Fundraising and Community Service Coordinator Sophia Washer said, “I think that we could definitely do coin stalls in the future. Maybe they could be for different things instead of just Make a Difference Day, but I definitely think that we will keep seeing coin stalls at Bloomfield Hills High School.”