MHS holds third annual Wish Week

Wish Child

MHS held its annual Wish Week from April 22-26. This year, the wish child is Kelsie Cousino, a six-year-old from Erie, Michigan. She was born with Williams Syndrome.

Williams Syndrome is a developmental disorder caused by the deletion of genetic material from a specific region of chromosome seven. The deleted region includes 26 to 28 genes.(ghr.nlm.nih.gov). Williams Syndrome is characterized by intellectual disability, unique personality characteristics, distinctive facial features, and cardiovascular problems.

Cousino has had eight heart surgeries and one brain surgery.

When Cousino qualified for the Make-A-Wish foundation, the Make-A-Wish employees asked her what she enjoys and what she likes to do.

Cousino said she loves Disney princesses and swimming.

“I wish to go on water slides. I want to meet Mickey and Minnie and Donald Duck. I want to eat lunch with Belle and swim with dolphins. I want to sing and dance with some princesses. I want to marry a prince and make it my dream come true,” Cousino said (Make-A-Wish Michigan).

Cousino’s interests are what decided the choice of going on a Disney Cruise with her family. The trip is scheduled to be at the end of this year or the beginning of 2020.

Wish Week Events

To help raise for Cousino’s trip MHS Student Council planned a whole week of fundraising events.

On April 22, there was a dodgeball tournament in the MHS gymnasium.

On April 23, a Panera fundraiser was held from 4-8 p.m. Twenty percent of the profit went towards Cousino’s wish. A volleyball game was also held in the gym.

On April 24, there was a student vs. teacher basketball tournament held in the gym.

On April 25, MHS held its annual Mr. Monroe pageant, where male students performed different events such as talents, active wear, and formal wear for a winning title.

On April 26, Student Council sold Chick-Fil-A sandwiches during lunch. An Olga’s fundraiser was also held after school. Twenty-five percent of the profits went towards Cousino’s wish.

On April 27, a soccer tournament at Custer Elementary School took place in the morning.

Lunch activities like “pie a teacher” and “pie a student council member” took place. Wish Week shirts were sold as well and “change buckets” were filled with pennies by students all week.

With all these fundraising events, MHS raised a total of $3,013.30 for Cousino’s Disney Cruise.

Reflections on Wish Week

Sophomore Sudent Council member Mitchell Meier said preparing for Wish Week takes an enormous amount of work.

“We had to contact all local businesses for donations, work with Make-A-Wish, get every event approved, rent spaces, confirm decorations, which includes staying after school creating decorations and putting them all up,” Meier said. “Overall, it is a tremendous amount of work, but we would all do it over and over again, because we love the cause and everything it does.”

Senior Student Council member Avery Morales said that the council has been planning for Wish Week since January.

Morales said this year’s wish week went well, and that it was emotional.

“This being my third year, I think it went over really well,” she said. “We worked with a new MAW coordinator this year who was absolutely awesome. It was really emotional this being my last one just because how much I enjoy watching all of this come together.”

Cousino’s mom, Jackie Cousino, said she thought this overall experience was great.

“Just that you guys would do all these things for someone you don’t even know and to raise so much money in a week is absolutely amazing,” Jackie Cousino said.

Cousino’s mother also said that her family didn’t know what to expect coming to the school, and the fact that so many young people took the time out of their week to plan everything and have it all tailored towards Kelsie was amazing.