St. Mary’s third-graders create Clue and Morris-opoly for annual fundraiser

The third-graders at St. Mary’s School in Morris have designed their own versions of two popular board games — Clue and Morris-opoly — to be auctioned at their school’s annual fundraiser, said Principal Tanya Fischer. This year’s event is Feb. 11. (See below.)

“Our tradition is for children in every grade to personalize items that are paired with goods donated by parents, grandparents and members of the Morris community. It’s great to see the students involved in these unique learning experiences,” Fischer said.

Amber Hentges’ third-graders decided creating board games was how they could customize an outdoor table.

Christina Pederson, a parent who has sons in the third and fifth grades, needed a single 45-minute session with students to organize both games — Clue would focus on the school and Morris-opoly would have a community-wide appeal.

“For Clue, first we had to limit our game to six bad guys, which they decided should be their teachers,” Pederson said. “Because we didn’t want the teachers to commit actual crimes, they became six naughty teachers. The kids thought it was really funny to have their teachers get in trouble. They were super-excited to develop scenarios using Expo pens, sharp pencils, hand sanitizer and even cups of hot coffee — scenes for the St. Mary’s School version of Clue.”

Hentges said, “Then they partnered up, using Mrs. Pederson’s phone to take pictures of where the action takes place — the principal’s office, gym, cafeteria, the tunnel between the school and church, the teacher’s lunchroom.”

For Morris-opoly, students brainstormed 60 locations around town, Pederson said.

“Sixty was too many for the game so we limited it to places found only in Morris. For the four ‘railroads,’ we used baseball and football fields and sports complexes. We chose our school and Assumption Church as the most valuable key properties,” Pederson said.

After the Morris-opoly list was pared down, Peterson and her third-grader, Aiden, drove around town to photograph businesses and locations. Then they sent in the information for their games to be produced.

“When Clue arrived this week, the students were in a state of shock with the game board in front of them, the game they helped make,” Hentges said. “They tested it — the first naughty teacher turned out to be me! They will have as much fun when Morris-opoly comes, maybe next week.”

On Jan. 25, Third-graders at St. Mary’s School in Morris tested the version of Clue they designed for their school’s auction and fundraiser dinner. (photo courtesy of Christina Pederson)

Fischer added, “Seeing their hard work come to fruition, the students now understand the time, effort and creative process that goes into making a real board game. They will enjoy showing these games at the fundraiser.

“This community is so generous, donating things like a four-wheeler, pork or beef, homemade items to help our school. That kindness is important to the vitality of the school and community.”

Fischer named some items classrooms have prepared. Preschoolers created a Twister game from their handprints to go with an art supply table and cubbies. Kindergartners made a wall-mounted beanbag game using soft baseballs. First-graders customized a puzzle from their class picture to go with a coffee table. Second-graders filled a tool bench with items that they purchased and donated. They also have framed 100-year-old slate chalkboards as serving trays, with handcrafted polymer clay pieces.

Fourth-graders signed stocking hats on a hand-made quilt. On the rungs of a deer stand built by parents, fifth-graders wood-burned their names and the school’s logo and added a hunter’s safety prayer and favorite Bible verses. Sixth-graders created a photo memory book to accompany a reading bench.

“It’s humbling and awe-inspiring how well our families pull together for this event,” Fischer said. “They are amazing and we cannot thank them enough. It is a night of community-building that reminds us of the army of support we have for Catholic education here. God is definitely present and answers our needs.”

MORE INFORMATION
St. Mary’s 17th Annual Dinner and Auction

Where: Morris Armory
When: Saturday, Feb. 11
4 p.m. Doors open for wine pull, silent auction, raffle boards and general raffle
6 p.m. Dinner served by Old #1, $20 per ticket
7 p.m. Live auction
9 p.m. Raffle prize drawing (grand prize of playhouse, additional cash drawings)

Online silent auction begins at 4 p.m. Friday, Feb. 10. Items can viewed at stmarysmorris.com.

To purchase tickets for dinners or playhouse raffle, or for more information, contact St. Mary’s School at 320-589-1704.

Author: Nikki Rajala

Nikki Rajala is a writer/copy editor for The Central Minnesota Catholic Magazine.

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