Last week students in grades 9 through 12 at a Deer Creek School District high school in Edmonds, OK, held a fundraiser for “Not Your Average Joe Coffee,” a business that employs people with intellectual, developmental, and physical disabilities.
When I heard about this my first thought was that’s it’s a great cause and wonderful that the school got students involved. We’ve all been involved in things like this: car washes, bake sales, even mini carnivals with dunk tanks and games of skill. However, when the school representatives got together to think up activities for raising money, somehow what they came up with did not fit what most people would consider acceptable. In fact, what they did come up with is truly disgusting.
Somehow the district thought it would be a good idea to have students lick, suck, and kiss peanut butter off of the feet of others as one way to raise cash.
Whenever she told me yesterday that was happening, I had to ask her, "Wait, what? They're licking peanut butter off of toes," an anonymous parent said. "What?"
Another parent added, "I am all for fundraising and all for really fun and silly things, but that right there just seems a little excessive.”
An anonymous student told Fox 25:
It was surprising, I didn't think they were going to do all that. I was just shocked. I didn't really have like a feeling. I was kind of disgusted, and then kind of glad I wasn't over there.
The Deer Creek School District seemed to think that it was important to get on record that every student who participated signed up for the games ahead of time and that Deer Creek faculty and staff did not participate during the assembly. The district also said students were paired up with corresponding grade levels for the competition.
The issue whether or not the toes of adults and teachers were involved was enough to cause a war of words.
The first video was released on X by Wendy Suares of Fox 25. She tweeted that children were sucking people’s feet for philanthropic purposes. Then, the same video was released by the Libs of TikTok, with the added description that kids were sucking the toes of adults.
UNBELIEVABLE. This happened at @DCAntlers. Students sucked on the toes of adults during a school fundraising event. Who approved this??? pic.twitter.com/vNqy3LkV0r
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) March 1, 2024
This irritated Suarez, who then posted not to retweet disinformation about adults being involved. However, she was then exposed when a previous post of hers was re-posted that stated teachers' feet were involved.
In my humble opinion, this is a futile debate that misses the point. Yes, if any adult feet were involved it makes an already disgusting display even more putrid, but the very idea that they would have children on their knees licking anyone’s feet is a disgrace.
This is another case of pushing students beyond societal norms. Yes, in this case it was for a good cause, but it also represents a perfect example of the end not justifying the means.
The Deer Creek School District issued a statement:
This afternoon, Deer Creek High School announced a grand total of $152,830.38 raised for Not Your Average Joe Coffee, an organization created to “inspire our community by including students and adults with intellectual, developmental and physical disabilities,” according to their website.
This total was raised through a week of events and activities at both Deer Creek High School and Deer Creek Middle School, all designed to bring our community together for an extremely impactful organization. On Thursday, February 29, 2024, Deer Creek High School hosted an assembly called the Clash of Classes for students who paid to attend. During this assembly, ninth through twelfth grade students volunteered to participate in various student-organized class competitions, in the spirit of raising money for NYAJ.
All participants in the assembly were students who signed up for the game(s) they played ahead of time. No Deer Creek faculty or staff participated in any of the games during this Clash of Classes assembly. Many dedicated students gave generously of their personal time to achieve this momentous accomplishment, which will serve communities beyond the boundaries of Deer Creek. We would like to thank all of the patrons, businesses and sponsors who contributed to the success of this year’s Wonderful Week of Fundraising.
Upon learning about the incident, Superintendent Ryan Walters posted:
This is disgusting. We are cleaning up this filth in Oklahoma schools. Our agency is investigating.
Yes, the fundraising was for a good cause -- and yes, the district raised almost $153,000. I guess that’s the going rate for the self-respect and dignity of high school students entrusted to this district’s care.
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