Lace-up your basketball shoes and put on your sweatbands, because the 11th annual Staff vs. Student Basketball Game will be held on Tuesday, March 19 at 7:00 p.m. in the main gym.
Central’s pep club, Red Rage, hosts this event for charity. This year, Red Rage will be making a donation to 360 Youth Services, a youth counseling center in Naperville.
Red Rage Sponsor and Spanish Teacher, Eric Kaisling, said Red Rage choose to donate to 360 Youth Services, because they wanted to raise awareness for mental health with the recent 2012 shootings, such as Sandyhook Elementary and the Aurora, Colo. movie theater shooting.
“We want to get more mental health awareness,” said Kaisling. “Also, with the passing of [substitute teacher] Mrs. Sandercock, she was a mental health nurse for 15 years, and we are actually going to donate the money in Mrs. Sandercock’s name.”
Kaisling’s goal is to raise at least $5,000. This money will come from ticket sales, food and raffle ticket sales, as well as an art show sale that will be put on by Central’s art students.
Senior Mike Vitello will be participating in the game as the coach for the Theatre Central team. He believes that there is a lot to love about the Staff vs. Student Basketball Game.
“The excitement, the competitiveness, the bantering between teachers and students and again, playing for a great cause, but I’d have to say my favorite part is just the fact that playing in the Student vs. Staff Basketball game has now become a Theatre Central tradition,” Vitello said.
Kaisling’s favorite aspect of this game is that it brings the Central community together.
“It’s more than just a clique’s event,” said Kaisling. “It’s a community event where we have a team of cheerleaders, a team of volleyball players, a Theatre central team. Almost every group is represented in this game whether they are selling art in the sale or just being there to support [this event].”
On March 18 and 19, tickets will be sold during all lunch hours in the cafeteria for $5. Tickets can also be purchased on March 19 at the door for $5.
