Teachers, custodians, guidance counselors, education administrators and all staff members who work at Bordentown Regional High School received a special treat on Feb. 22.
That treat was a box of Girl Scout cookies that were donated by people across the Bordentown community to show their appreciation toward teachers and faculty members for their hard work and dedication during this unpredictable school year.
Heather Campbell, the co-president of the Class of 2023 Booster Club, spearheaded the cookie drive with the help of Debbie Comeau, the co-leader of Girl Scout Troop 30575.
After seeing seventh grade Girl Scout Kara Parker lead a cookie drive to show appreciation for the teachers and faculty members at Bordentown Regional Middle School earlier this month, Campbell wanted to try to do a similar cause for the staff members at the high school.
“Every school was doing something for the teachers and I wanted to do the same thing for the high school,” said Campbell. “Having to teach students in person and online is difficult. It’s a lot more time consuming to keep everyone on track. I give them credit for trying their best to keep the students on track.”
Besides this year’s sophomore class, no other grade level in the high school has a booster club, according to Campbell.
She added that parents of students in the Class of 2023 helped make a booster club last year in the effort to raise money towards activities and events that the children participate in during their time at the high school.
Campbell used the Class of 2023 booster club Facebook page to garner interest from people on the matter and then connected with Comeau.
The two women both have sons who are sophomores at the high school, and Campbell knew that Comeau was a troop leader for her daughter, Vivian’s Girl Scout troop.
Troop 30575 is the only group associated with Girl Scouts of Central and Southern Jersey for girls with special needs. Comeau has been involved with the group for the past 10 years, and said that girls in the group range from age 17-27 and come from all over parts of southern New Jersey.
In fact, Vivian is the only girl in the troop who is a Bordentown resident, Comeau said.
Comeau took Campbell up on the idea, thinking it would be a nice gesture towards the teachers and help her troop raise more money for the future activities and a trip to Baltimore.
“Our troop benefited from getting all the extra sales,” Comeau said.
Campbell and Comeau sent a flier throughout the community about their cookie drive initiative, selling a box of cookies for $5.
Comeau said most families from the area would donate around $20-$25 by buying four to five boxes of cookies for the staff members at the high school.
After someone purchased a box of cookies, Comeau would contact those families to thank them for their donation to the school and ask them to send her a special thank you message to be shared with staff members.
Comeau would print out those messages and put them on a bulletin board that was displayed with the boxes of cookies in the high school for everyone to see.
Thanks to the awesome Bordentown families that donated and our local Girl Scout Troop that supplied the cookies, every staff member at BRHS will receive a free box to add a little sunshine. pic.twitter.com/2aweqvuqpO
— BRHS (@BRHSScotties) February 22, 2021
“People were very generous and happy to donate something to the staff,” Comeau said.
The Troop 30575 co-leader believes around 42 families participated in the cookie drive.
When the fliers went out, Campbell contacted Bordentown Regional High School Principal Robert Walder to see how many boxes of cookies would be enough for all the teachers.
Campbell said around 90 boxes were the goal, but the drive produced way more cookies to go around as 139 total boxes were purchased in donations by the Bordentown community.
Because of the amount of boxes sold, everyone that works in the high school building were able to take home a box.
“It was a nice surprise for the whole staff at the high school,” Campbell said. “People wanted to show their appreciation to the teachers.”
Walder said that his staff members were in awe with the display of thank you notes and cookies, adding that they were “literally eating up the cookies” throughout the school day.
The small token of appreciation by the community to his staff at the high school made it extra special for Walder, who said it meant the world to him and his faculty.
“Little notes from the community members were very meaningful,” Walder said. “A small token of appreciation goes a long way and means everything in the world.”
Proud of the success the cookie drive was able to draw, Campbell said she hopes the initiative can spark other avenues of fundraisers in the high school for parents and students to partake in to show support for their teachers and school administrators.
“We find that when we reach out to our parents that they want to do something and show support in other ways,” Campbell said.