Athletics are a huge part of what makes Morgan the school it is. Whether it’s winning shorelines four years in a row (such as girls soccer), or having all state athletes across all sports, Morgan has earned us a name because of our constant success. Swoosh for Change brings not only the biggest message at Morgan, ”Better Together”, but also utilizes the passion we all have for sports.
Its popularity sprouts from not only the fact that it is mainly all student run, but also because of how many different activities happening in one night. The build up for the Swoosh for Change game creates a friendly competitive atmosphere between teachers and students and brings together all three schools, and families of Clinton.
The night started with the Joel chorus singing the National Anthem. After that, Ciarleglio announced the starting line-ups for both the staff and students team. Halftime was divided into two, 10 minute periods. During the first part of halftime, the Eliot boys and girls basketball teams scrimmage against each other in the gym. Following that, the Morgan Rock Band performed various songs in the cafeteria. In between the third and fourth quarter, there was a half-court shot which cost $1 to take the shot.
Collen Couch, a Morgan school counselor, is one of the two advisors for the class of 2026, alongside Karla Rivendanera. Both Couch and Rivendanera organized most of the event itself. Couch spent a lot of time making sure the event itself appealed to everyone in Clinton.
“Just seeing the joy and all of the kids, whether they were from Joel, Elliot, Morgan, everybody was having so much fun, and families were coming up to me saying, ‘wow’, this was an amazing event and a great fundraiser,” Couch said. “I think just being able to see the whole community come together was really exciting, and I’m really proud of all the work that we all put in to plan that event.”
The fundraiser raised about $2,200 for the classes of 2026 and 2027 in total, leaving both classes with around $1,100. This is a huge improvement from last year, when only about $1,100 was made. Junior Nathan Levy is the president of the class of 2026 and has been involved in student government for three years now. Levy mainly focused on getting all the food from the restaurants to sell and overseeing that all the events happen into the correct order, guarantying everything during the night went smoothly.
Swoosh for Change is a basketball game in which two teams play against each other. One team consists of all students, and the other is faculty who work in Clinton Public Schools. Both teams play four quarters, each ten minutes long. The game is an annual fundraiser, and it allows for students to play against some of their favorite teachers.
This year, the class of 2026 and the class of 2027 worked together to run the fundraiser and raise money for not only their classes but Clinton Human Services. Junior Jacquelyn Cialeglio is the secretary of the Class of 2026 student government. Cialeglio was a big part of Swoosh for changes’ success this year, by working hard to ensure everyone had something to do during the night and something to bring to the event.
“To make sure enough people signed up, we put up flyers around the school and posted the flyers on all things Clinton to attract people from the community. It was to not only attract Morgan faculty to sign up, but also the people that live in town,” Cialeglio explained.
According to Spanish Teacher Laura Luther, the idea for the Swoosh for Change game was created in 2014 by two students, Paul Michael Mulally and Liz Bradley. They came up with the idea because they wanted to find a way to connect both the Morgan students and the community of Clinton. Luther is the advisor for Student Government, and oversaw the whole planning process for the game origin.
“Paul Michael and Liz were just talking one day about how to bridge the gap between the Morgan school community with the other school communities and the community of Clinton. They were both very well respected leaders in the school community,” Luther explained. The idea for a friendly game to raise money continued to grow onto many other ideas at Morgan, and soon became one of the biggest events at the Morgan School.
“This year, Swoosh for change went amazing, and we’re ecstatic with the turnout of students and families in our community,” Levy said. “I’m very glad it ran smoothly and without problems, after the amount of effort that was put into making that night possible. Overall, I believe it was extremely successful and definitely worth the time and effort we all put into it.”
