Wish Week is an important  event for the Eagle Valley community . It is a time where everyone comes together to make a wish come true for a child who is facing critical illness. This year Eagle Valley focused on Eagle Valley Elementary School student Jada Ray. Jada was diagnosed with leukemia two years ago and is currently going through chemotherapy. She is in third grade, and she loves animals and going to the beach. Jada’s Make-a-Wish wish is to go to the beach..

“It’s a week where we see a lot of people coming together and celebrate one cause,” says StuCo sponsor Mr.Douglas Little. “It does show us that we are a community. A community that can rise to a challenge and help a little girl grant a wish.”

Wish Week is a very important event  to the Eagle Valley that is organized by Student Council. It shows how one community can come together and do something special for someone in need.

“It’s interesting when we talk about schools in America today. It used to be that your community school was a central focus of your community. Today we have lost that sense a little bit, and I find it important that we do events like Wish Week to remind us that we are a community,” Little says. “That we are one people, one valley, and we have shared values, shared hope, shared dreams, shared goals. It also allows us to celebrate an event for a good cause like Make-a-Wish.”

The Eagle Valley community was able to make Jada’s wish come true and raise more than 10,000 dollars by raising money at multiple events and selling products. Student Council organized a game night, a dance, tournaments, in addition to Valegrams and t-shirt sales to raise money. During the Miracle Minute at the Wish Week  Opening Ceremony on February 7,  students and staff members rushed to the middle of the gym to throw money into buckets. The Miracle Minute raised $5000. A group of nine senior boys raised $1000 in pennies of that $5000. Another $1000 was raised through three different after school tournaments- soccer, dodgeball, and basketball. Student Council organized a  winter dance, and students raised $2000 just by showing up and dancing. Crawling for a Cure donated $1000 to support Jada’s Ray. Along with that donation, the Hobbs family donated $1000. Other events collected more than $2,000. All together, the community raised just over $11,000.

Wish Week cannot happen without dedication. What motivates individuals to organize and participate in these events varies.

For Mr. Justin Brandt, a StuCo sponsor and science teacher, that motivation comes from a desire for “our high school can focus on things bigger than ourselves.”

EVHS Principal Mr. Greg Doan says, “When I think of dreams, I think about how you have a vision of the future, something you want to happen.  When achieved or attained, a dream fulfilled can bring great joy and happiness.”

At the end of the day, the common “why” behind Wish Week that brought the community together was simple. It was Jada.