Every Autumn, Chaminade sees its students come together for the common cause of selling raffle tickets. Whether it be to friends, immediate family members, or distant relatives, the goal of the Rowdy Red Raffle is to raise funds to improve Chaminade’s campus and the lives of its students in any number of ways. Each year, a group of Juniors come together to plan, create community involvement, and choose specifics for incentives. Typically, we’d see them more often, but the pandemic has lessened their involvement. This year, though, they still did the after-school announcements and kick-off video.

A pleasantly surprising 114% of the goal was met this year, with the Mauclerc House coming out on top for ticket sales. Each class also reached their quota; the first time this was ever accomplished was back in 2019. So, what does this mean for the school moving forward? Well, in the short term, students will receive a day off on February 14^th, 2022 – Valentine’s Day. Speaking with Mrs. Julie Lohr on the subject, she stated that the campus ministry space will be improved, creating a better area for students to hang out, relax, and build community; new furniture, a television, and perhaps even a ping pong table will be added to the area. Additionally, Chaminade aims to improve Internet performance, especially in Café Moe, the Atrium, and the Library. “They’ll have faster connectivity and more access points,” stated Mrs. Lohr.

The Raffle did experience some changes this year, mostly relating to “incentive days” – a term referring to days when students receive rewards for selling a certain number of tickets by then. Due to the pandemic, all of last year’s incentive days were held during Mentor Group. 2021’s case was similar, with a cinnamon roll and a Chick-Fil-A biscuit being given out in Mentor Group, and a Ted Drewes ice cream cup being available during one lunchtime in the cafeteria. Mrs. Lohr stated that “The point of the incentive days were not only to have rewards, but also to keep gradually building up ticket sales.” Judging by the numbers, it seems this strategy was quite effective. The total funds raised this year was an astonishing $179,975¸ overshooting our goal of $150K by nearly $30,000! Great job Chaminade, and soon we will see the fruits of our labor!