In December, Oak Park High School’s Associated Student Body debuted its hot chocolate fundraiser, selling cups for two dollars every Friday morning. 

With help from the ASB director Anastasia Kokiousis, members arrived at 7:30 a.m. to set up shop before students arrived at 7:45 to grab a cup before classes began. While ASB had no monetary goal to reach, raising more money meant cheaper prices for upcoming school events. 

ASB member Royce Willis introduced the idea after seeing its success at other schools.

“Royce is the brains behind the hot chocolate sales,” ASB member Gabriella Paul said. “We didn’t choose to sell hot chocolate to raise money for ASB but to build spirit, create community and make those cold Monday mornings a little bit better for OPHS students.”

The fundraiser’s first day was described by ASB members as frantic with an unexpected amount of students showing up.

 “Since we didn’t anticipate so many sales, we only had one station making the hot chocolate and we ran out every 5 minutes,” Willis said. “Inside the ASB room, Ms. K[okiousis] was getting overwhelmed with all the people ordering. On one hand, it was slightly crazy but on the other hand, it was pretty fun.”

The fundraiser will take a hiatus through winter break with the possibility of it starting back up in January.