Mounds View students take action for service dogs and disabled veterans. Fundraiser on May 26, 2022.
May 10, 2022 Updated May 12, 2022.
Mounds View High School students in the Mustangs Business Management class have set out to raise money for Pawsitivity Service Dogs, a nonprofit organization dedicated to taking dogs from shelters to train them to become service dogs for disabled veterans and children with disabilities.
The class’s goal is to raise $7,500 through an organized dinner event, May 26, 2022.
The event will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday, May 26, at Ideal Hall, 1494 Dale St. in North St. Paul. Dinner will be catered and provided by TST Creative Catering, and the night will include a silent auction with prizes and items donated from a wide range of local businesses, a raffle and a speaker from Pawsitivity Service Dogs.
The class was organized into departments with respective managers and assistant managers who worked together to organize separate specific jobs for the event. These included operating and tracking, communications, social media, print and online media, research and technology, finance and event design.
Senior Nicholas Hare is the manager in the finance department. He said the class is one of a kind.
“There might be other classes that have fundraisers, but this is a whole event, and we’re doing all of the work behind it like reaching out to businesses for donations,” Hare said.
Throughout the semester, the class holds manager and assistant manager meetings so they can touch base and talk about what each department is working on.
Senior Nathan Gason, manager of communications, said the class has been a crash course in communicating.
“If our departments don’t talk, we get into issues,” Gason said. “I think this is as close to a real-world model on what business management is like because we have to interact with real companies, we have deadlines and it’s a wonderful little experiment of the real-world — and I find it fascinating.”
The students chose Pawsitivity Service Dogs for this project because of their desire to support disabled veterans as well as the rescue and rehabilitation of dogs.
“Pawsitivity is like a smaller charity, and because the donations are going to them, it helps them out a lot more,” said senior Liam Neary, a member of the finance department. “They said they could do a lot with $1,000. So the more money we can give them, the better.”
The class is guided through this fundraising project by teacher Theresa Anderson, who provides lessons on leadership and management skills.
Anderson said this project gives students an opportunity to learn management skills, engage with the community in a proactive and beneficial manner and build a portfolio that showcases the management competencies required for business leaders.
“I’m impressed with the work they have put in so far, and am looking forward to seeing the culmination of their efforts on May 26, 2022, at their event,” Anderson said. “I appreciate the community’s support of their efforts. It really does have a positive impact on the students when the community shows up for them.”
All proceeds from the event will go to Pawsitivity Service Dogs to help train and care for service dogs for people in need. Tickets prices are $50 until May 12, 2022, then $60 from May 13 to May 26, 2022 for one to four tickets, $50 for quantities of five or more tickets, and $45 for veterans.
“I’ve learned that sometimes we need to just get out of the way and trust students to do good work,” Anderson said. “When driven by a cause they are passionate about, they do a great job of sharing their strengths. This project is good for their growth and development as emerging leaders as well as helping them navigate new experiences to prepare them for the future.”
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Shoreview Press Editor Noelle Olson can be reached at [email protected]or 651-407-1229.