A unique prize motivated almost 200 Finn Hill Middle School (FHMS) students to sell five or more magazines in the school’s record-breaking magazine drive. These students earned the chance to participate in a Color Challenge obstacle course designed by the FHMS Leadership class. During the Color Challenge, students worked in teams to solve mental and physical challenges within a five-minute time limit. Their reward was the chance to have dry paint thrown at them, coloring their clothes in a rainbow.

Students in the FHMS Leadership class design ed the obstacles for the Color Challenge, built the course, and organized the event. Challenges included unscrambling letters to create a motivational sentence, giving directions to safely and quickly lead a blind folded team member to a goal. Another challenge was to create and balance a PVC-pipe cube on one corner, then working together to climb through four faces of that cube. After successfully completing each challenge, the team of students found a teacher who would throw dry paint on them. Using creative-thinking, cooperation, and teamwork, the students accomplished the goal of wearing as much paint as possible.

The magazine drive raised over $35,000, a 55 percent increase over last year.