The principal of Elizabeth Haddon School climbed the school’s roof on the night of April 30 and camped there for eight-and-a-half hours to honor a promise made a few months earlier.
Gerry Bissinger said he would help students raise $22,248 for Raise Craze – acts of kindness by students – over the course of three weeks beginning in February. Student contributions included activities like writing a letter to a first responder or cleaning up trash.
It was the school’s third such fundraiser; students raised more than $25,000 over 2024 and ’25.
Bissinger believes this year’s student fundraisers were more motivated in their concern for the community.
“I also feel that our school and our district as a whole does have a strong focus on social emotional learning and compassion and kindness,” he explained. “So I told the kids, there’s no other fundraiser besides one that helps kids and all of us become better people …
“I would not do this for a charity thing,” he added. “While that’s noble, I feel like this is a very student centered and focused.”
On the roof from 8 p.m. Thursday to 4:30 a.m. Friday, Bissinger faced some less-than-ideal weather.
“I was not anticipating the rain,” he acknowledged. “So I made a grave error. I was reminded of the first rule of camping: Make sure you put the rain cover on first … I neglected to do that part when I was setting things up after school.
“It was a little bit wet,” Bissinger added, “but it was well worth it.”
Principal Gerry Bissinger got a little wet because of rain while he was on his school’s roof for eight-and-a-half hours.
Bissinger read books to about 100 kids on a Google Meets call while he was on the roof, and was there when students came to school the next day, May 1. He climbed down an exterior ladder to greet them, then attended a talent show that he called “a great way to wrap up a lengthy 24 hours.”
The principal took off part of the day to catch up on the sleep he missed.
A majority of the money raised from Raise Craze, 90%, will go toward the school’s PTA to fund assemblies, teacher wish list items and field trips.
The impetus for the project came from Rachael Fordham, a PTA vice president with experience raising money from Girl Scout Cookie sales. But she wanted to help a more healthy cause.
“I saw people coming by with Type 2 diabetes and oxygen tanks and not very much money at all,” Fordham recalled of the sales. “And they were giving me their last $7 (to pay for cookies). I told them I actually don’t believe in this. This is against all I think is good in the world. You’re not actually helping very much. Please save your $7.
“… This isn’t what I want to spread,” she added. “This sugar and salt and fats. I don’t actually think that’s good for anybody. So I was quite frustrated after doing different selling things to different people.”
Instead, Fordham founded Raise Craze, where after a student completes an act of kindness, they send notice of it to friends and family who may donate. She was concerned that this year’s funds might not equal last year’s, especially as the PTA started budget estimates.
“I was a bit nervous, because I felt last year we raised a whole lot of money,” she recounted. “And at some point, the PTA starts putting it in the budget like, ‘Estimated profits from Raise Craze.’ I’m getting stressed out, cause I don’t know, can we do that again? I don’t know … For me, it was really wonderful to see the participation go up.”
The PTA anticipates this year’s budget will be around $102,000, with Raise Craze accounting for about 21%.
