Most public schools in the United States rely on students to raise money for fundraisers and charities, whether that’s year-round or just a few times per school year. Many adults’ memories from childhood come from events like these, from school assemblies to matching with their friends during spirit week or selling magazines; school fundraisers can be a core aspect of American education.

Silver Creek High School holds fundraisers year-round for anything, whether it be for school sports, the Make a Wish Foundation, or other charities and school events. Though these fundraisers can generate a lot of money, many students have reported that because they happen so often, it’s hard to keep track of everything.

“[Fundraisers are] always going on, I never know when one is happening. I’m sure it’s the same for a lot of people. No one really talks about it. And a lot of the time you don’t know what the fundraisers are for,” states Daisy Tiner, a sophomore at Silver Creek.

A lot of students seem to be quite passive toward fundraisers, and this is very clear to see during spirit weeks, where students are expected to dress up to either raise awareness for a cause or hype up school spirit for some upcoming event. It’s meant to be a fun event for students to participate in, but a lot of people stopped participating in events like these once they got into high school.

“People might see it as lame, which sucks. There’s a bit of trepidation around showing too much school spirit, as a fear of looking like a loser,” Tiner says.

Juliette Forbes has been at the forefront of the Silver Creek Leadership Academy, watching the participation in fundraisers rise and dwindle for the past 10 years.

“It kind of fluctuates year to year … with the culture of each of the grade levels,” says Forbes. “For example, sometimes we get a senior class that’s really philanthropic or has really good school spirit and so it’s kind of reflected throughout the whole school’s interest.”

The Change for Change Drive, which raises about $1,000 yearly for African students pursuing education, is only one example of one of the long-lasting events in Silver Creek that have seen a subtle drop in participation since it started.

“The coin drive is really interesting,” says Forbes, “because I’ve been here for 16 years, and 16 years ago, kids had cash because that was their main form of currency. They go out to lunch, they come back, and they’d have change in their pockets. So the coin drive from a participation perspective was way more active when people had cash.”

That doesn’t mean that participation in all fundraising activities has seen a drop, though. Along with the culture of certain grade levels, current events can also affect involvement in the fundraisers students choose to participate in.

“One year that comes to mind that was particularly strong for me was after the Marshal Fire that took place in Louisville and Superior,” says Forbes, “I think every year is different. I wouldn’t say that there’s been a decline over the years, I would just say that we have some years with strong students … that raise thousands of dollars, and then some years that don’t have any students that raise thousands of dollars.”

There are a lot of factors that go into how much money students raise each year, some being factors that people can’t change like current events or the culture of each grade level, but there are a lot of things that people working these events probably can change. This could be anything from finding different ways to raise school spirit to more digital ways to donate money for students who don’t carry around cash anymore. There are many ways that event organizers can increase the amount of money they raise, it’s just a matter of if they’re willing to experiment around a little bit to see what students connect best with.