Rivals come together to help community

Numerous high schools have competitor schools that they challenge regularly. In other words, many high schools have become rivals. According to Webster’s Dictionary, “the word rival most commonly refers to a person or group that tries to defeat or be more successful than another person or group…Teams, schools, or companies might be longtime rivals if they try over many years to outdo each other.”

For Springdale Jr-Sr High School, that rival is Riverview. Students from the buildings often test each other through sports, academics, and activities. However, groups from these schools – The Future Is Mine (TFIM) from Springdale and Riverview’s Student Council – have found a way to use that rivalry in a positive way. The groups have developed competitive programs to collect items and donate to local charities. Last year, they began a Stocking Drive for the holidays and a Souper Bowl Food Drive in the winter. The donations benefitted community homeless shelters and local food banks.

For the Stocking Drive, the groups asked students, staff members, and the community to consider donating stockings stuffed with toiletries, non-perishable snacks, socks (the shelters specifically requested socks), and paperback books. This year’s Stocking Drive was more successful, with the students collecting over 100 already “stuffed” stockings and other items to be placed in stockings to deliver to homeless shelters in Pittsburgh. This holiday season, their motto was “Two small schools together making a big difference.”

The groups look forward to continuing the Souper Bowl competition in February. The activities uphold the ideals of the organizations. The projects connect students with employers in the community and develop skills needed in a successful workplace. Classroom learning is supported as students work collaboratively to organize and market the programs. The winners get bragging rights. “I truly believe that these students have redefined the nature of the Springdale-Riverview rivalry,” commented teacher and TFIM sponsor, Ms. Dayna Hrin. “They’ve harnessed this historically rooted energy and used it to benefit the less fortunate of both of our communities. I am so proud to witness their cooperation! It’s definitely been the good-natured camaraderie the communities need now, more than ever.”