Strut your Stuff

Strut your Stuff

It’s that time of year again. The days grow shorter, leaves start to fall, and the senior fasIMG_0240 (1)hion show is back at IHS once again. In recent years the fashion show has taken place at the Ipswich Country Club. Although, in years before ICC, the fashion show has been held at IHS and even the Hellenic Center. However,  the Ipswich Country Club turned out to be the best place to host it. The walkway created for the models to show off the clothing lines is well designed and allows the audience to all equally see what is happening.

But let’s back up. Mrs. Kallman was the backbone of the fashion show this year. She says, “It’s organized completely by volunteer parents.” So we can thank our parents for making this all happen. This year, 10 out of the 15 companies that were asked to be apart of this year’s show got involved. A few of these stores include Men’s Warehouse, Farley’s, Giblees, and many more. Mrs. Kallman has also spoken about the fundraising part of the fashion show, how much money is made, and where it goes. According to her, $10,000-$25,000+ has been raised in recent years. She says, “The money is used to support senior week events and expenses.” This is the money that pays for the graduation expenses and the class gift as well.

Now the question is how is this money raised? Well the IHS fashion show is actually an auction; it is meant for the audience to bid on different donated items. Every year there is a new auctioneer chosen, and there are generally  two different types of auctions. The first auction is a silent auction, which means bid sheets are given out for each item and the item with the highest bid wins. This part of the show happens during cocktail hour with food included. Then there is the other side of the auction process, which is the live auction. The live auction is meant “to generate more money,” says Mrs. Kallman. This is because the live auction displays higher end or unique items, so it is more serious than the silent bid. Fundraising between $10,000 and $25,000 definitely seems like a successful night.IMG_20151112_121434

I was curious about the student involvement in the show as well. Clearly the students are the ones being the models, but was there more to it? To get the answers I was looking for, I found and met up with our senior class president Carly Coughlin. Carly says, “My involvement in the show isn’t very extensive. Basically all I did was decide who the MCs were and collect money for the audience admission into the show.” She later said how Mrs. Kallman and all the other volunteered parents are really the heart and soul of the fashion show.

The Ipswich senior fashion show has been a tradition going on for over a decade now and has raised thousands upon thousands of dollars each and every year for our school as a whole. We can thank our parents for giving us the opportunity to be apart of this night, specifically Mrs. Kallman for going above and beyond the expectations. Lastly, the seniors should be proud of a job well done at the fashion show, and the entire student body as a whole should show their appreciation towards everyone who was involved and helped fundraising because it only made our school better for all.