November 30th, a day students will never forget. Newscasters from CBS set up their cameras, ready to capture the best moments. Students walked into the Arena, wearing blue wristbands and ready to cheer on Carter and Carli. The teachers and students participating in the basketball game line up, preparing to show off their skills on the court. Spectators sit down on the bleachers in the sold-out arena and cheer as the players come on the court smiling. Their love and support are exemplified as Carter and Carli set foot on the court, adorned in basketball and cheerleader outfits. The whistle is blown, the clock starts, and players begin the game.

“I didn’t know how many kids were going to show up. I was trying to promote in the cafeteria each day; I even wrote a song about it,” said Mr. Wolff, an administrator at South, and the adult organizer of the event, stated. “Originally, I thought, maybe 300 kids would come? At first, it was set in the Blue Gym, but after so many kids showed up, we had to move it to the Arena.¨

On Nov. 30, during 2nd and 3rd periods, students had the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to show their support for Carter and Carli. The school decided to turn Carter and Carli’s love for basketball and basketball cheerleading into a fundraising event so they could attend an NBA All-Star game in February. Thanks to students and teachers, this was all made possible. The event was also aired on CBS46 last Monday.

“I liked how organized it was,” stated junior Nathan Miller. “Usually things like this are poorly planned but everything from the microphone quality to the hype of the game was incredible.”

The event turned out much better than the faculty expected. The game had to be moved from the Blue Gym to the much larger Arena, and they ran out of wristbands to sell.

¨I don’t have an exact number [of money raised], but you can almost do the math; selling thirteen hundred tickets at five dollars apiece, it was a lot more than we anticipated,” Mr. Wolff said.

The feud between teachers and students ended with the students winning 35 – 34, with Carter making the last two shots for the student team. Students cheered and clapped enthusiastically when Carter made the shots, showing support for him.

“Since this whole organization (Dream on 3) is sports based, and Carter is always carrying around a basketball, we thought he would be perfect from our group of kids because of his basketball enthusiasm,” Mr.Wolff mentioned. “Because his sister also has down syndrome, we thought -and this is not done all the time, usually it’s just one kid’s sports dreams- but we thought because of our unique situation and Carli’s love of cheerleading, we could have a ‘Dual Dream.’ So we had a group of kids, and then our job really was to rally the whole school around the idea.”

The organization that helped all of their dreams come true is called Dream On 3. They help organize fundraisers for kids with chronic diseases or special needs and make these kids’ sports dreams come true, whether it’s going to the next NBA game or flying out in a helicopter to meet their favorite player. This can be best exemplified by their mission statement:

This event is only the beginning- these events are going to go on until their send-off in February, with a silent disco coming in January. The school will send out more details after winter break, but if it’s anything like the game, it’s sure to be a hit.