On Saturday, Dec. 7, two of Archie Williams’ upperclassman academies, the Social and Environmental Academy-Dedicated to Improving School and Community (SEA-DISC) and Team, collaborated to host their ‘SEAM’ (SEA-DISC/Team) fundraiser. Starting at 11 a.m., the student-run fundraiser took place on Sir Francis Drake Boulevard near downtown San Anselmo, across the street from Creek Park. The two academies sold unique preloved and custom clothing items, including embroidered hoodies, tie-dyed shirts, and second-hand pants, to fundraise for upcoming expenditures.
Archie William’s SEA-DISC program works to advise juniors and seniors in solving real-world problems through exploration and direct action, while the Team program empowers upperclassmen to discover a deeper sense of purpose through experiential education, engaging them in outdoor activities, volunteerism, and educational experiences. Junior SEA-DISC student, Isaac Terry, says the academies require extra fundraising to finance their respective extracurricular activities.
“We need to do a decent amount of fundraising to go on cool field trips and even overnight camping or backpacking trips. The money we raise today will go a long way towards each program,” Isaac said.
SEA-DISC and Team students managed the pop-up shop hosted at Corcoran Realtors, students from both programs worked the register, stocked and transported clothing, and helped shoppers find items best fit for them. Team and SEA-DISC members also crafted the specialized clothing within the store. Senior Team student, Serafina Kirk de Georgio, believes Saturday’s event was unique from previous fundraisers.
“Team tries to do a fundraising event once every semester but we have never done an event like this one before,” Serafina said. “This is the first SEA-DISC and Team fundraiser that’s ever happened before and so far, it’s going very well.”
In addition to Archie Williams students, faculty, and parents of academy students, the fundraiser attracted many people passing by with outdoor displays of their items and signage as well as previous advertisements through social media. Shopper Joel Kirk preferred this interactive approach to traditional forms of fundraising.
“It’s nicer to spend money on high-quality pieces of fashion instead of just handing out money. It really encourages you to help support the program and the hardworking students, without you feeling like you just gave away or lost money,” Kirk said. “It’s also cool to see the students in action doing what they love.”
Through events similar to Saturday’s, both academies can continue to meet their goals of fostering a sense of purpose and belonging in their students, as well as prioritizing sustainability. The event concluded at 5 p.m., lasting for over six hours, and passersby came inside to purchase items and support the academies. As of now, both academies hold no future fundraising plans, however, Saturday’s event proved collaboration between the two academies to be possible.
