As the new school year settles in and the seasons change, new opportunities are brought into the school. With the want to raise money for the Panther Crew program, Mrs. Spears and Mr. Browning started a fundraiser called the Dirty Soda Bar. People who participate in the program volunteer to make and sell these drinks to the students during all three lunchtimes. They are made of various sodas, flavored syrup, and creamers. Many students are fascinated by the new assortment of dirty sodas.
Savannah Ellison (11) explores a new way to get more involved in the school. She joined Panther Crew this year and has gotten the chance to help give tours to all kinds of people. With the new soda drinks, she has learned step-by-step how to curate them. She has also started thinking of new flavors to bring in the new holiday season. Now that she gets to help with these opportunities, it has shown her how to get closer to her school.
“It allows the Panther Crew members to interact with the rest of the students, making and selling new flavors with them, and it allows them to get their volunteer hours,” Ellison said.
Another member of the program, Riley Waugh (11), gets to watch the school’s morale slowly heighten because of the Dirty Soda Bar. As he sells the sodas, he enjoys watching each of the student’s faces brighten as they take their first sip. He’s also noticed that when Friday comes around and it’s time to sell the sodas, everyone is excited and in better spirits.
“I believe our Soda bar helps our school morale. With most of us think of the school as a prison, with something like the bar, we step in the direction of swaying the mood of the student body from underappreciation to unity and joy,” Waugh said.
With the variety that comes along with the Dirty Soda Bar, it lets Emma Perlov (12) try every drink there is to offer. Because these drinks are so diverse and interchangeable, she also gets to experience working and managing the soda bar. It gives her and her fellow peers the chance to feel like they are working at a job, and it challenges them to have to work together taking the orders and making the drinks.
“I love the variety of choices that it offers. Also, it gives Panther Crew members the opportunity to gain experience managing and working in a workplace environment,” Perlov said.
With the chance for everyone to try the new dirty soda drinks, it has also given the opportunity for people all over the school to experience something new. Whether it’s getting closer to the school or learning how to manage and work the soda bar. The Dirty Soda Bar has given you the possibility to learn or try something new.
