Children’s laughter fills the packed courtyard as kids from local elementary schools all come together to play games and learn about the organizations Bowie has to offer. As Bulldog Round-up commences, excitement fills the hearts of the future Bulldawgs.
On Wednesday, March 11, Bowie, with the help of STEM Instructional Coach Cindy Carroll, held the second annual Bulldawg Round-up. However, preparation ensued as early as the beginning of the year, with the marking on the calendar as early as possible to get the maximum number of organizations to attend. The purpose of Bulldawg Round-up is to raise funds for the junior class of each year, while also getting money for each booth that is set up. It also doubles as a fun, country-themed way to inform the future generations of ‘Dawgs the wide range of clubs available at our school.
“When I started at the school 28 years ago we had a fundraiser called the Halloween Carnival, which is no longer,” Carroll said. “I thought the idea was good, and last year I put together another fundraiser specifically for the junior class. Giving half of the money earned to the junior class, and the other half to participating clubs. Starting at the beginning of the year, we make sure to mark the event on the calendar so everybody knows about it. Then finally in the months leading up to it, it takes constant harassment of the sponsors to get everybody out and have a booth set up on the day of.”
On the day of the event, teams and organizations alike came to set up their booths, some to simply entertain the kids, while some were more to closer mimic their sport, for example wrestling. Sports like wrestling set up to advertise their sport to the future students who will one day be in charge. Wrestling, in particular, has a youth program, and ways for the youth to get involved immediately, and had fun competition related to wrestling in which kids could earn prizes.
“At our booth we held competitions in which the kids would pull wrestling dummies while racing against another kid, or even a wrestler,” senior Captain Alex Trevino said. “Afterwards, we would give the kids a couple pieces of candy and then tell them about our youth program. I was once a kid in their shoes, and the youth program helped me find the sport I love, and it means a lot for me to help the kids now find the experience I had.”
While members of the school’s sports team put on booths, members of peer leadership positions such as PALS and Ready Set Teach put on booths as well, interacting with kids like they would while working with elementary schoolers while in their class period, and devoting one on one time with the kids.
“I spent time with the kids and drew with them one-on-one,” senior PALS member Jesus Torres said. “I enjoy being a member in these kids life every B day in PALS, so it feels just as good to continue my job as a role model at Bulldawg Round Up. Many of the kids we saw at the event were kids we see at PALS, and it was important that we be the same person to then, and devote individual time to them regardless of the situation.”
After a fairly successful fundraiser this year in which each program involved got double the money they did last year, with a similar amount of money going towards the school. This year fostered many changes in just the second year of the event. However, many of those being for the better. Carroll thinks with earlier and a little more persistent advertising next year could be even better.
“This year moving to the courtyard was a great idea,” Carroll said. “While we only had half of the clubs we had last year, we still received the same amount of donations. The biggest challenge with planning the event is there is rarely a date that works for everybody at Bowie. So, if we can just constantly push the event out earlier and harder to even more sponsors, Bulldawg Round-up will continue to come together nicely and the programs can plan around us.”
