Car Wash Raises Funds for MTHS Life Skills Class

At entrance on Saturday, clowns and members of the held signs, waved and honked horns, inviting drivers to a student-run car wash. The purpose was to raise money for the Life Skills class at MTHS.

The car wash was a Leadership Dynamics class project organized by Bryan Swauger, a freshman, and Justin Jaffe, a junior and member of the Montville First Aid Squad. Their goal was to raise $285 to pay for a bus to transport the life skills class to the Shrine Circus at Mennen Sports Arena. 

“We organized the project with help from Ms. Greenspan and the Shriners clowns," Swauger said. 

“The boys started planning it toward the end of February,” said Ina Greenspan, special education teacher at the high school who runs the life skills program.

Friends, students and family members helped to wash more than 50 cars between 10:30 am and 2:30 pm. Molly Smith, a junior who mentors students in the life skills class, introduced herself with a smile as “the designated dryer." Swauger’s sister, Coral, ran the same project as a senior last year for Leadership Dynamics.  She now serves on Montville’s First Aid Squad. 

The clowns, Ziggy, Fiona, Jimbo, Coral, Harvey and Rainbow, are members of Salaam Shrine, the organization that runs the Shrine Circus where the students will go on their field trip. Ziggy, whose real name is John Swauger, happens to be the dad of Bryan and Coral.

“Salaam Shrine is an international fraternity that supports 22 Shriners Hospitals for Children, where they treat orthopedic maladies and burns at no cost to the families," John Swauger said.

According to the website, "Salaam Shrine is perhaps best known for its colorful parades, its distinctive red fez, and its official philanthropy, Shriners Hospitals for Children.”

At 2:30 pm, the students had surpassed their goal, raising more than $650. The clowns were smiling.