Super Supporter Feature: Cascade Christian Junior High School

Students at Cascade Christian Junior High School in Puyallup, Washington, participated in the 2021 Iron Giraffe Challenge (IGC) and raised an astonishing $26,000. Cascade Christian was then selected as one of ten randomly drawn IGC prize winners. Their prize? A video call with members of the South Sudan team: Country Director Ajang “AJ” Abraham Agok and Technical Advisor Ater “Lion” Akol Thiep. Cascade also won the IGC “Super School” prize for raising the most of all the schools participating in the Challenge. This earned them a video call with their inspiration and WFSS Founder and Senior Strategy Director Salva Dut. We recently sat down with 7th-grade teacher Kristy Bingham and two of her students to ask them how they did it and why fundraising was so meaningful for them.

Bingham first learned about A Long Walk to Water (ALWTW) by Linda Sue Park, which tells the story of WFSS founder Salva Dut, when a friend suggested she read it. She finished the book over the summer and was touched. Having grown up hearing about the Lost Boys and watching their stories on the news, she decided to incorporate the book into her classroom. Her students read the book, as well as news articles published in the 1980s and 1990s about the Lost Boys of Sudan and the Sudanese Civil War to provide context for the book. They also wrote a character analysis of Salva Dut, discussing three main traits to describe him and using evidence from the book to support their analysis. Her students said they were enamored with Salva and his story—both Kyah Nelson and Riley Bostain reported being inspired by Salva’s journey and appreciated that the book was a true story and written beautifully. Both students were particularly shocked at how girls in South Sudan often don’t go to school because they are usually tasked with gathering clean water for their families. 

Seeing how inspired her students were by the book and Salva, Bingham proposed a plan to her fellow teachers. Each spring her school participates in an event called Impact-term. I-term is held every spring and is dedicated to enhancing student learning by providing additional spiritual, academic, personal, and leadership experiences outside the traditional classroom in conjunction with the Cascade Christian Curricular Program. Current 7th graders, with support from the 8th graders who previously read ALWTW, would raise enough money to fund a new well in South Sudan. 

With a goal of $15,000, Bingham knew it would take multiple fundraising events to reach this goal. Students first participated in the Ten for $10 campaign—each student called ten people and asked them to donate $10 to their cause during a designated class period. They prepared a script, made a list of ten potential donors, and got to work. It was an overwhelming success, with family and friends often donating far more than the $10 requested. As students made their calls, they watched their fundraising total grow in real-time on their Water for South Sudan fundraising page.

The next fundraising event was a marketplace with several different types of booths. Students sold baked goods, handmade items and paintings, and raffle tickets for carnival games. High school students in the district also participated in the event by shopping to support their fellow classmates. Two families, the Heyers and Morrises, even sold beverages from their Dillanos Coffee Company truck and donated the proceeds. 

When asked what advice they would give students who want to fundraise, Nelson and Bostain said to just go for it. They also say that donating something small has the potential to make a huge impact—every dollar counts when you’re trying to meet a big fundraising goal. Bingham commends her students for pulling off their tremendous fundraising feat in the midst of a hectic academic schedule right before Spring Break. “I sometimes think we don’t give kids enough credit. Once we give them permission, they view themselves as being able to change society,” she says. “They’re 12 and 13-years-old, and look what they did. It’s amazing!”

On their video call with Salva, students say it was amazing to have him answer their questions, and that the fundraising efforts and video calls were the highlights of their school year. Thank you, Cascade Christian Junior High School! We couldn’t be more grateful and proud of all your hard work.