Imagine J-D: Ballin' for Cash

Twenty-six teams put on their best Halloween costumes to play in a co-ed volleyball tournament that raised $400 for Imagine Syracuse.

The teams were mostly from Jamesville-Dewitt High School, but there were two teams from Fayetteville-Manlius High School's Imagine club. The team called "Those Guys" won the tournament with a score of 25-21 after an intense final round against "Cougar Nation."

The six members of each team picked their name and their costume theme. Every team started on the regular bracket. Once a team lost, they joined a "losers" bracket where they played other teams that lost in the first few rounds.

Imagine J-D came up with the idea for the volleyball tournament early in the fall. Because the gym was available on October 30, they added in the idea of wearing costumes because it was so close to Halloween. The members of Imagine J-D did 90 percent of the work for the volleyball tournament. Marian Glauber, social studies department chair and advisor of Imagine J-D, said, "I don't think I've ever had a club where the kids did so much work; I was impressed."

"The tournament was very well put together and I enjoyed it," said freshman Morgan Gunther, who attended the tournament on "The Hot Tamales" team.

Jessie Keating, who co-founded Imagine Syracuse in 2008, said, "The volleyball tournament absolutely blew me away. My teenagers never cease to amaze me, and the organizers of this event should be tremendously proud of themselves. Imagine J-D is a role model for all the growing Imagine clubs in high schools across Syracuse."

Imagine J-D is part of a larger program called Imagine Syracuse. Stevi Wilson, a Spanish teacher at East Syracuse-Minoa High School, started Imagine Syracuse with Keating, who is also a youth minister at St. Lucy's Church.

The program hosts after school activities for inner city children who have none of these options. Imagine Syracuse wants to decrease the dropout rate of students in the Syracuse City School District.

Some of the things that Imagine J-D does for Imagine Syracuse is teach languages, run career classes, and have an Imagine Talk where teenagers come together to talk to kids about what is going on in their lives. Some students volunteer for Imagine Syracuse at Huntington Learning Center. Keating said that many students from Imagine J-D come to Imagine Syracuse on a weekly basis.
Keating emphasizes the importance of people who work behind the scenes and said, "There are many students from Imagine J-D who prefer to work behind the scenes doing fundraising and organizing, and this is just as important as volunteering. We are so grateful!"