PHS Little Bucks Day Brings Holiday Fun

What if you were a preschooler or kindergartner and got to spend the morning at the big high school in your town? That’s what about 20 kids got to do during Little Bucks Day at Pendleton High School on December 14^th.

A PHS tradition of 24 years this year, Little Bucks Day is organized by PHS Leadership Class students to offer “Little Bucks” the chance to spend some time at the high school. According to Stu Clem, PHS Leadership Teacher, the event is a leadership program that helps Big Bucks (leadership students) give back to the community.

For a couple of hours, children ages three through kindergarten went on a Scavenger Hunt around the school, picking up clues and prizes in different classrooms, taking a photo with Santa, participating in arts and crafts activities, and decorating cookies.

Each Little Buck is paired up with a high school student for the morning to enjoy the activities together. Clem said it is amazing how many former Big Bucks (former PHS leadership students) are now sending their Little Bucks. “We have had dozens do it – pretty cool!” Clem said.

PHS Senior Miranda is this year’s Little Bucks Day Chair for PHS Leadership. She said it’s been a lot of work to get the event organized, but she was looking forward to taking her three-year-old sister around for Little Bucks Day. “I love Christmas, and little kids are cute; plus, I really like to do arts and crafts.”

The Pendleton School District is happy to feature new PSD teachers.

The purpose of some fun activities this year at Pendleton High School (PHS) is to increase participation in school events and boost PHS spirit. One of the ways to increase participation is to be involved in or watch a Jack and Jill event.

The Jack and Jill events are so named because teams who participate must consist of male and female students. There are a variety of competitions planned – volleyball, black light volleyball, pickleball, badminton, and spike ball. The events are scheduled once a month in Warberg Gym. Teams pay $2 per person to register to participate.

According to Stu Clem, PHS Leadership Advisor, the high school has been having Jack and Jill events for more than 10 years, and they are a true PHS tradition, as he hasn’t heard of any other high school that does them.

The winners of each competition get to participate in a really fun event in the spring/end of the school year. Each student team goes up against a PHS Staff Jack and Jill team.

Jaydon, a Junior, said he and his friends participate in the Jack and Jill events because it’s fun.

Aubrie, a Junior, said it is a break from Advisory class. “I’m terrible at some of the events/sports, but it’s fun,” she said.

Grace Pitner, PHS Senior, is the Assembly Director for PHS Leadership this year, and she said planning the Jack and Jill events has been fun. “I like yard games, and it’s fun to play against kids your age and not your parents. It’s also good because it makes for fun competition because the students who sign up for Jack and Jill are playing because they want to.”

Last year, Pitner and her teammate won three events – pickleball, volleyball, and black light volleyball. So they were able to compete against staff teams for two events – pickleball and volleyball (the two volleyball competitions were combined). They lost both events, which she said was embarrassing but still a great experience.

Welcome back to a brand-new school year at Pendleton High School!