West Caldwell Student Basketball Tourney Raises Cash For St. Jude's Hospital

West Caldwell, NJ – On Wednesday, March 23, and Wednesday, March 30, students from Wilson Elementary School in West Caldwell participated in the school’s first 3-on-3 basketball tournament, raising funds for St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital.

Organized by the school’s K-Kids Club, the elementary school Kiwanis Club, the students held a tournament for fourth graders and a tournament for fifth graders, raising $460, according to school news release.

Nearly 100 students participated in the tournaments, playing against their peers in a round-robin format. With the school principal Scott Keena and teacher Scott Stiefbold acting as referees, and co-club advisors Haas and Andrea Zimany overseeing the entire event, both days ran smoothly, with students cheering on their classmates and scoring points.

“We wanted to show the students the doing good can be fun,” added Zimany. “And so far, it looks like it worked.”

Affiliated with the Kiwanis Club of Caldwell-West Essex, K-Kids is an elementary school service club for students that teaches younger students the value of helping others by taking part in community service projects.

Introduced in 2014, the clubs exist at each of the district’s four elementary schools. So far, nearly 200 students district-wide have joined the clubs, school officials stated.

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Photos courtesy of the Caldwell-West Caldwell School District