As the hunger drive is coming to an end, one teacher and her dog are sweeping the competition. The dynamic duo has outlasted various challenges and sabotages. Gina Weaver, special education teacher, has a total of 12 students throughout the day, yet she is dominating, along with her sidekick Mojo the dog.
Weaver is surprised by the amount of support and donations she has received this year. In previous years, she says, “I was lucky to receive 4 or 5 cans and was always immediately knocked out.” Mrs. Weaver has a secret weapon this year: Mojo. Mojo is a golden retriever who hangs out with Weaver and her students the whole day. During passing time, he is often outside her room in halls, greeting whomever passes by.
Weaver enacted many incentives to try to get people to donate to her. The first week, she put in the announcements that for every can turned in, students could have five minutes with Mojo. The following week, the incentive was for five cans, people could take pictures with Mojo. Weaver has received support from students throughout the school. Additionally, the Belmont Administrative Center collected cans and donated all the cans to her. She has also made allies with previous survivors, Joe Youngbauer and the Band. The Band recently donated all of their cans from trick-or-treating to Team Mojo after she outlasted them. Emma Horsfield, a senior and executive member of Spartan Assembly, says, “It is amazing but sad that team Mojo has beaten most of the teachers, who have more than 100 students each.”
Mojo’s success was almost cut short. Last week, Mojo and Weaver nearly faced elimination. Math teacher Barb Pischke collected 320 pounds, while Weaver only had 260. Fortunately, Pischke forfeited since she was gone for a majority of this week. Mojo is not in last place, however; he is ahead of both Philip George and Zachary Marotta.
Even though end is near, people should still continue to donate. “Donations affect one in five of the children in the Quad City Area. It is important to be aware of that people around them need the supplies,” Horsfield says. Students can continue contributing to any of the remaining survivors. Choose wisely to help your favorite teacher outcan, outlast, and outlive.
