HOLLADAY -- Sixth-grade students in a class for the gifted and talented won't raise $1 million as they seek to solve a problem this week. But they wish they could at least come close to that amount during a fund-raiser Friday evening, April 7, at Cottonwood Elementary School.
Having heard of the medical and financial plight of Weber State University mascot and power tumbler Matt Maw, 22, who was severely injured in a fall, the students decided to work at solving a problem close to home. The students learned of Maw's injury while watching a television news programKristine Seiter's students will participate in a "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" fund-raiser from 6 to 8 p.m. at the school, 5205 Holladay Blvd. All proceeds from the evening's activities, which will begin with a pizza dinner, will go to help Maw, who was hoping to compete in the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece.
Two other fund-raising events for Maw are also scheduled. One will be at 6 p.m. Thursday, April 13, in the Dee Events Center at Weber State University in Ogden. Christopher Reeve, who played Superman and was injured in horse riding accident, will speak. The event is free to the public, but donations to aid Maw are encouraged, said Mark Peterson, WSU media relations director.
Another fund-raiser, a benefit concert and dance, will be held from 7 to 11 p.m. Saturday, April 15, in the Logan Recreation Center, 195 S. 100 West, Logan. Nevin Limburg, Maw's step-father, said he and others hope to raise enough money to supply Maw with equipment he will need to get around.
Maw was paralyzed from the neck down in a fall Feb. 23 while practicing tumbling. Maw, who has no health insurance, has since regained some movement in his right arm. The Cache County man is a patient in the McKay-Dee Hospital rehabilitation unit. He is not on life support and is learning how to run an electric wheelchair with one hand, Rod Fifield, director of social services at the hospital, said Monday.
KSL-TV weatherman Kent Norton will be host for the Cottonwood Elementary program. Services by students, including car washing and baby sitting, will be auctioned off. One student agreed to donate all tips from his newspaper route, and parents of some of the students have agreed to offer a ski tune-up, a fishing lesson and other services. Pizza Hut will provide 60 pizzas without charge for the gathering, and the firm's chief executive officer will fly in from Portland, Ore., for the event, according to Christine Kimball of the Cottonwood Elementary PTA.
Students in the class made commercials on their parents' businesses, which will be viewed during "commercial" breaks during the mock TV program. The commercials were filmed with the assistance of Kimball and were sold for $25 each.
Having worked to help find the answer to at least part of the problem facing Maw, the Cottonwood Elementary students will participate Saturday, April 8, in a "Future Problem Solvers" competition at Brigham Young University.