Gianna Bartalo 12 is a senior in high school who had the benefit of participating in Wish Week at Lewis Palmer. “We did it like five years ago, and I have a ton of friends who do it at their school. It’s like a really big deal for schools who have been doing it for years.” 

Throughout the process, upperclassmen and underclassmen aimed to make a change in their community. 

“We just wanted to make this year bigger than ourselves, and so that was a really good way we could keep doing things for the community,” Bartalo said.

Bartalo explained the national Make a Wish organization and how Wish Week is related to it. She also specified who the fundraising benefits. 

“Wish week is a national organization that raises money for children who have diseases. We raise money for children who just need some hope in their life.”

Bartalo introduced our school’s Wish kid and explained her situation. “Clara, a 7 year old, has a neurological disease; when she has episodes, it feels like she has like a bunch of different diseases at the same time,” Bartalo said. “It can be triggered by fluorescent lights, big crowds of people, or germs.”

Students and staff learned about Clara’s episodes, what she loves to eat and what she wishes to be. 

“Clara loves princesses, she couldn’t wait to become a princess. She likes Freddie’s and beef stroganoff and she’s just like a gem of a human, she was just really inspiring, we all kind of fell in love with her.” 

The Student Council decided to utilize various fundraising opportunities such as penny stalls. “We made $7,500 so unfortunately we didn’t make our $10,000 goal, but still it’s good for a first year school. We had to get things approved by the faculty and do presentations for the penny stalls.”

Staff and students reacted positively towards Wish Week. “It was just cool to see how people were still willing to  give something to someone who needs that more and that was just really inspiring as well,” Bartalo said.