By Ashley Tessmer

WISCONSIN RAPIDS – Seventeen years ago, Lincoln High School (LHS) held its first “Sportainment Night.”  The principal at the time asked, “Do you think we could involve more businesses in this project?”  The answer from the marketing teacher and students was, “Yes!”

Since that time, the Sports and Entertainment Marketing class has branded two events “Sportainment Night” and the “Dodgeball Classic” within the community of Wisconsin Rapids.  Both events are an end-of-term, real-world projects in the Sports and Entertainment Marketing classes. The projects started off as fun, hands-on tools to evaluate students on their skills and knowledge of business and marketing concepts discussed within the class. The projects have evolved into much more for the LHS students and the community of Wisconsin Rapids.

Over the past 17 years, LHS Marketing students have raised over $80,627 for more than 20 non-profit organizations by creating partnerships with local businesses.  These partnerships allow for sponsorship opportunities for local businesses to generated income through the promotional efforts of LHS students.

Life-long lessons of hard work, dedication, teamwork, planning, volunteering, and the importance of giving back to our community are gained from the experience these events provide Sports and Entertainment Marketing students.

The latest Sportainment Night was held Jan. 25 at LHS and students set a new benchmark and raised $11,385.11 to be donated to Aspirus Riverview Cancer Center.