This year’s annual Spring Sing show is taking a step beyond the stage lights. Beginning this year, participants in Spring Sing will work together to raise money for the Stanley Hupfeld Academy.
Student Leadership Coordinator Elizabeth McElroy said last year, former Student Government Association President, Zekariah McNeal passed a resolution to integrate a philanthropic aspect into Spring Sing. McElroy said Stanley Hupfeld was chosen because of Oklahoma Christian University’s ties to the Stanely Hupfeld community.
“We have many wonderful connections with this school, its teachers and its students,” McElroy said. “OC has helped provide mentors for many years, and the students come to campus every year for Earn Your Wings for kite day. They also mirror our mission for education and growing hearts and minds.”
According to McElroy, the addition of philanthropy in Spring Sing will help bring social service clubs together. McElroy said all students have the opportunity to make a positive impact on the community by participating.
“For the clubs, it seems that this could be a way to add a more cooperative effort that overarches the fun and competition of the show,” McElroy said. “For everyone on campus, this is an easy way anyone on campus can be involved in something to help a school right here in our community. For our first recipients, this could have a tangible impact on the resources available to students for their personal development.”
Throughout Spring Sing, each club is required to contribute a basket for a silent auction, and all the donations will go to Stanley Hupfeld. In addition, all fines placed on clubs during Spring Sing will go towards the academy.
Sophomore Paige Arter is the philanthropic chair for Spring Sing this year. Arter said after hearing about the opportunity, she immediately filled out an application for the position.
“I decided I wanted to be a part of it, so I filled out an application and went through the interview process,” Arter said. “I was fortunate enough to be selected, and I’m really excited to be able to do this.”
According to Arter, she helped choose Stanley Hupfeld to benefit from this new aspect because she knows several students who have developed relationships with the academy’s students.
“Almost everyone on campus has met a kid from Stanley Hupfeld through kite day or tutoring, so to have a beneficiary this close to the OC community is great because we are able to put a face with the cause,” Arter said. “That’s not to mention how many of our alums have been involved with Stanley Hupfeld.”
According to Arter, there will be no competition between clubs to raise money for Stanley Hupfeld. Arter said the primary focus is to benefit the academy, and one of her goals is for this new aspect to take attention off of club competition.
“I hope to make Spring Sing bigger than just a club competition,” Arter said. “I would love to see this implemented every year and grow into a big fundraiser. I want to make this something that people can look at OC and think we are active members in the community around us because of this effort.”
Each year Stanley Hupfeld visits Oklahoma Christian to participate in the freshman orientation program Earn Your Wings. The students at the academy have the opportunity to fly kites and spend the day with new university students.
Freshman counselor Braedan Fair has been involved with Earn Your Wings since his freshman year, and now continues to play an active role in the program as a member of Student Life.
Fair said the university’s connection to Stanley Hupfeld is making a deep impact on the lives of its students. According to Fair, supporting this relationship is important.
“The relationship we have with Stanley Hupfeld is something I hope never goes away,” Fair said. “We’re setting an example for young kids and the two and a half hours they have with us could change their life.”
According to Fair, Kite Day is only one part of the university’s interaction with students at Stanley Hupfeld. Fair said several students at Oklahoma Christian are active participants in the academy’s mentoring program.
“Stanley Hupfeld isn’t just Kite Day for us,” Fair said. “For some of our students it’s what they do once a week for four years. The fact they’re doing something like this to raise money during Spring Sing is excellent because the resources they already have are great, and the fact we can help them and continue the relationship and strengthen them is great.”
According to Fair, Stanley Hupfeld was the ideal choice to be sponsored throughout Spring Sing. Fair said the students at Stanley Hupfeld are at a critical age in forming their world-views, and Oklahoma Christian can aid the development of those views.
“We have such a good relationship with them,” Fair said. “It’s an ongoing relationship not just with the academy itself, but also with each and every one of those students. I think it’s the perfect choice now because culture and society is working, and it’s such an integral part to make an impact on young minds because there’s all these things flowing in from the media left and right.”
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