BY SYDNEY HOOVER
When Eudora High School government teacher Chris Dunback first pitched an idea for a new leadership club to a group of students in July, he felt like he’d made a mistake.
In-person learning for the fall was still an unanswered question because of the coronavirus, and Dunback didn’t want students to be let down again after losing so much when schools closed in the spring.
“I went home and I felt miserable,” Dunback said. “I called Shanda [Hurla] on the phone, I said the kids can't have any more disappointment. And I think that we made a mistake.”
Hurla had Dunback share the idea with her Eudora Schools Foundation interns after discussing the idea for the club. Ultimately, she and Dunback agreed it needed to happen this year.
With the help of Dunback and Hurla, the student interns launched the Cardinal Corps, selecting senior Colby Lawhorn as its president.
“A lot of things have been taken from these students,” Hurla said. “If we just keep pushing off and saying, ‘Hey, we can't do it this year because of COVID,’ what does that tell our students? We've got to be the example of, you know, persevering.”
The Cardinal Corps’ primary goal is to promote positive behavior and community at the high school. Before the school year started, Dunback and the students worked on identifying leaders from different clubs and teams at Eudora High School and dropped off invitations at their homes encouraging them to apply for the group.
With these student leaders involved in the group, Dunback said he thinks it could promote better relationship building and positive behaviors throughout the school.
“We kind of came up with this idea that what if actually we could somehow make doing the right thing popular? Then we've solved a lot of problems,” he said.
The Cardinal Corps held “Cardinal Month” throughout September, where students had opportunities to gather safely for different activities, including a virtual homecoming parade, a kickball tournament and a Super Smash Bros tournament. On Saturday, students can attend a drive-in movie at the high school in place of a homecoming dance.
Lawhorn said in future years the group wants to hold a “class cup,” or a point system to incentivize different activities and events and other positive behaviors. Right now, though, he said they’re focused on bringing students together in a safe way to build relationships during an unconventional school year.
“This could have happened in any year, but this year is especially needed,” Lawhorn said. “It's helped us feel more as a community, more together.”
Reach reporter Sydney Hoover at eudoratimes@gmail.com.
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