ROOTSTOWN, Ohio — After a year of adjusting and adapting because of the pandemic, the school year is finally coming to an end for this year’s high school seniors.
In Rootstown, graduation for about 90 seniors is set for Sunday, June 6, and one parent is trying to make sure that weekend celebration gets an extra spark.
Rebecca Schaffer, mother of senior Jenevieve Schaffer, started organizing a fundraiser on GoFundMe for $3,500 to fund a fireworks show for the seniors.
“We just really want to let them know we love them and give them the recognition they deserve,” she said. “They’ve worked so hard and overcome a lot this year.”
Last year, donations and local sponsors from the community funded fireworks for the seniors. This year made it a little harder after the school just finished coming up with the money needed for a new track at the high school, a project totaling more than $300,000.
For senior Jenevieve Schaffer, fireworks would be a fantastic present for a class that dealt with shifting from in-person learning to virtual and remote several times during the year, on top of losing concerts, homecoming, and spectators at most sports.
“It would really mean a lot,” she said. “We missed out on so much. There’s been a lot of things that have been a toss-up on whether it’s going to happen or not.”
As of Wednesday afternoon, the fundraiser had come up with a little more than $1,000.
“It’s getting kind of close,” Rebecca Schaffer said. “We’re coming down to the wire. We have to give [the fireworks company] an answer by Friday the 28th, which is just a few days away.”
If you’re interested in donating to the GoFundMe for Rootstown Fireworks, click here.
