Finley River School wins Oprah's Big Give

By Brad Belote

After two weeks of intense fundraising, KSPR is proud to announce the winners in the KSPR/Oprah's Big Give Change Your School Challenge.

Inspired by the hit ABC series, "Oprah's Big Give," KSPR challenged high schools in southwest Missouri and northwest Arkansas to identify a need in their school and work to change their community. With Oprah's help, KSPR would kick in $10,000 to help them make a difference.

Many schools entered but only seven made the final cut. We challenged those schools to raise as much money for their project as they could in just two weeks. The school that raised the most per student would receive $5,000; second place $3,000; and third place $2,000.

Our 2008 winners are the Finley River School in Ozark. The school's 40+ students raised $9,472.34 for a scholarship for children with autism. KSPR will award the school an additional $5,000 for their project.

Students in Crocker won second place. They raised $6,814.00 for new computers for their school. Oprah's Big Give will add $3,000 for second place.

Fair Play students won an additional $2,000 to the $4,501.05 they raised for smartboards in their classrooms.

Combined, the seven participating schools raised more than $55,000 for needs in their schools. Congratulations to all our schools and their efforts.

Other schools who were part of the Big Give: Springfield schools raised $14,503.35 for a freshman mentoring program; Willard High School raised $8,633.08 for a horse therapy program for disabled children; Spokane students raised $5,887 for a new baseball field; Stoutland schools raised $5,762.50 to send veterans to the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C.

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