Advisor Spotlight: Mr. Mike Gottfried

Inspired

Mr. Gottfried knew all about Four Diamonds when he took a job as an Earth Science and Physics teacher right out of college. He was involved with THON throughout his time at Penn State and danced in THON 2013. Mr. Gottfried explains that in the first years, Mini-THON was put on by Key Club but as interest grew, Mini-THON split off as its own club. In the last two years, the Mini-THON club grew drastically and they saw some huge changes. For the first time they held an overnight event, and they did their first kick off assembly 3 weeks in advance of their Mini-THON, instead of the day off. These changes led to a dramatic increase in fundraising from $17,401.81 to $52,237.82! Roxbury was recognized at the 2017 Mini-THON Leadership Summit for their fundraising success that year which equated to an unbelievable 251% increase in fundraising! Changing a culture

As Mini-THON became its own club, Mr. Gottfried describes a big push to implement a strong structure and foundation that promotes and fosters student leadership. Their goal became to develop stronger leaders in addition to conquering childhood cancer. He continues to push students to new limits and has implemented a focus on written goals this year to accomplish and grow more. In addition, with the support of administrators, fellow teachers, advisors, student leaders, and ultimately the buy-in of the student body they have worked to make Mini-THON a part of the culture in the school.

• Hold a kick off assembly four weeks in advance of their Mini-THON
• Mini-THON spirit week the week of Mini-THON
• The promotion of Mini-THON throughout the year

ADJUSTMENTS TO the event

Changing their event to overnight was the biggest draw for students and it took their Mini-THON from “just another after-school event that supports a great cause” to something totally unique. Mr. Gottfried also championed to engage the middle school which has served to get students excited to come to the high school and get involved. A 35-minute lesson on Mini-THON and Four Diamonds is also presented to every freshman. All of these factors, plus a new Mini-THON student internship and a cool new mural in the school have developed a culture of giving back, participation and awareness for their Mini-THON.

ROXBURY MINI-THON AND CORPORATE SPONSORSHIP

When talking about how Roxbury approaches corporate sponsorships, Mr. Gottfried describes how the students put together a packet based on the Four Diamonds corporate sponsorship packet template found on FTK® Nation (click here) to see template. Students go to businesses with the packet and explain Mini-THON. Prior to going out, students learn and practice their ‘pitch’ so they know how and what to explain to a business. When a business buys-in, Roxbury Mini-THON provides an incremental tiering of publicity, including one of the more coveted tiers having a business logo on the back of 500 t-shirts! In addition, shout outs at school and on social media, lawn signs in front of the building, and names on banners on the walls in the gym all promote and thank sponsors. Last year, they raised roughly $4,500 in monetary donations from corporate sponsorships and in-kind gifts that covered 100% of the food and drink at their Mini-THON. This year, they plan to target more local businesses (real estate, lumber yards, landscaping companies, etc.) for donations.

THANK YOU Mr. Gottfried for creating an environment of youth philanthropy at Roxbury!