Every year, Edmond Memorial High School raises hundreds of thousands of dollars to support a cause, and every student contributes their money to a selected charity. This philanthropy week started in 1986, is known as Swine Week. It was dubbed with the appropriate name when the principal agreed to kiss a pig if the student body raised the money needed for a peer’s kidney transplant.

Fast forward 38 years later when Swine Week is often thought of as the event of the year. With this position, however, comes enormous amounts of planning, time needed to prepare, extreme stress and lots of collaboration. Swine Week has so much that goes on beyond the surface with the people who aren’t just donating their money, but give so much more to make Swine Week what it is today.

The school collaborates in so many ways just for Swine Week. Head Principal Brandi Wheeler has noticed this vast change in EMHS during Swine Week.

“…I’ve seen so many different student groups come together and interact that would not interact normally,” Wheeler said. “I’ve seen clubs come together. We have teachers, the community and feeder schools like the elementaries all participating. So, I think it’s just that collaboration piece that kids get … and then the assemblies are kind of the star of it all. The assemblies bring all of that hard work together, and people get to see it all.”

This year, the Swine Week theme is “Back in Swine,” which uses a classic motif to relive the past alongside the ever-present pig pun. The decorations are elaborate and spread throughout the school, and this year the student body is thoroughly excited to see what student council, led by the Swine Week co-chairs, reveals.

“We could easily slap together decorations and lazily get the school ready for Swine Week, but that wouldn’t work for our Swine Week vision,”  senior and StuCo Swine Week co-chair Allison Wright said. “Swine Week is a time of celebration, and we want to create an overwhelming feeling of wonder and magic within our school walls. We want this week to be memorable for all those involved, and we achieve this partly through our elaborate decorations.”

Alongside the major Swine Week positions in StuCo, the underclassmen contribute much time and energy as well. Everyone in StuCo pitches in wherever they can, trying to make Swine Week as amazing as possible.

“Even though I don’t have a major role, I still feel like I contribute a lot,” sophomore StuCo member Scout Killackey said. “Since I don’t have a specific job, I can work on everything in general rather than focusing on one thing. Getting to help everyone and everything allows us to get work done and make Swine Week memorable for everyone.”

All of the time and effort required to prepare for Swine Week, especially the decorations, comes with enormous amounts of stress. But, it all comes down to the final assembly, when each StuCo member, as well as teachers and administrators, see the amazing work they have done alongside the entire student body.

“Stressed doesn’t even begin to describe how I’ve been feeling in all honesty,” Wright said. “I’ve been completely exhausted trying to balance Swine Week and schoolwork. It’s getting to be a lot, but I’m grateful for my co-chairs and other officers who have been stepping up to make my life easier. The workload has taught me patience, organizational skills, and that it’s okay to let people help me sometimes. I’m a hyper-independent person, and this entire experience has taught me that leaning on each other is sometimes the only way.”

The relief at the end of the week is immense. Senior and StuCo President Sydnee Seat has experienced this firsthand.

“It’s definitely worth it,” Seat said. “When the total is announced, despite [what the total amount is], it is really rewarding to see all [of our] hard work play out.”

Although the weeks leading up to Swine Week are perhaps the most stressful of them all, planning begins as soon as the school year starts. Each StuCo member has to log hours throughout the school year.

“We started putting in decoration hours in November,” Killackey said. “About every two weeks, hours would increase. This week we have 10 total hours we have to get completed. All of these add up, but that doesn’t include the hours we spend calling people and setting up our different Swine Week events. Overall, I don’t think I could even estimate how many hours we put into Swine Week, but it is an extreme amount.”

Starting in January, StuCo offers opportunities to support and donate money to Swine Week and this year’s recipient, Peaceful Family. The first school-wide event of the year was $25k in a Day. This year, it occurred on Friday, Feb. 23, and the goal is in the name: to raise $25,000 in one day. This year, there were many pastries and food items offered, tinsel for girls’ hair, smoothies, drinks from 801 Nutrition and Roots Nutrition and Piggy Pastries. As well as items to be purchased, there is the yearly car smash, for which a student could pay $5 for 30 seconds or $10 for one minute to smash a car. In the end, $27,744 was raised to support Swine Week and Peaceful Family.

Swine Week began on March 11, with daily assemblies and dress-up activities all week that the whole school enjoys. Because so much work goes into Swine Week throughout the year, EMHS is able to raise the money needed for a charitable cause each year.

It is hard to comprehend such a major transition that the school undergoes. StuCo members stay at the school almost the entire weekend before Swine Week, although it seems like it all happens magically overnight.

“Without our [decorating] Chairs and the work Student Council puts into Swine Week with decorations, we wouldn’t have the huge transition of our school,” Killackey said. “[Putting] time and effort into every decoration makes our school so special and different compared to others. Swine Week wouldn’t be the same without the time and dedication that student council puts into our Swine Week decorations.”

There is also new hope that Swine Week and EMHS will not just affect Edmond as a community now but will eventually spread the idea of a philanthropy week to other schools. Although our head principal is leaving EMHS after this school year, she hopes to introduce something similar to Swine Week wherever she goes next.

“I feel like Swine Week has given me the idea that when I leave next year, that’s something I would want to bring to my campus because I don’t think it’s about the money anymore. I think it’s bigger than that,” Wheeler said.

Having something like Swine Week is unique, and it could never be a success without all of the work that goes on behind the scenes. StuCo members, teachers, administrators and many more groups of people offer so much to Swine Week and hope that the student body will donate their money in return, all to better the Edmond community and provide funds to a charity that can give someone a happier, healthier life.

Contact Esther Wood at [email protected]