Students work to add fireworks to Santa Rita's grad night

It’s not an epic prank that is in the works, but a fireworks show for graduation night — a student-led initiative organized by Melissa O’Neill’s senior math finance class.

About 75 students have been writing proposals, pitching the idea to the Tucson Unified School District administration, working on deadline and are now raising money to make their goal a reality.

While the project has incorporated traditional math finance concepts — like supply and demand and cost-benefit analysis — it wasn’t conveyed in a way that 18-year-old Andrew Harriman had expected going into the class.

“I expected to learn about financial math but using textbooks to understand interest rates or something,” he said. “We’ve learned what we were supposed to but in a very time-consuming, interesting way.”

In working toward raising the $2,000 needed to ensure that the May 21 fireworks show goes off without a hitch, the class has partnered with Desert Toyota of Tucson, Jack Furrier’s Tire and Auto Care, Spanish Trail Dental Group, Allstate insurance agent Edmund Marquez and HT Metals.

“Fireworks are a fantastic way to incorporate both magic and fun into what most people consider a boring or difficult subject,” said Heather Mulhern, Jack Furrier’s accounts receivable specialist.

Added O’Neill: “The magic behind the fireworks project is that it took students’ learning outside of the classroom and into our community … They became confident and leaders in their own way, something that we can never take away.”

The cause even received backing from a Santa Rita student club, SkillsUSA Carpentry, which made an unsolicited $500 donation, and community member Albert Elder.

In addition to the cost of the show, Santa Rita’s Rutas Alternas club, which includes some of O’Neill’s math finance students, is working to raise $1,000 to leave to the next class of seniors to carry on what they hope will become a tradition.

Rutas Alternas offers students the opportunity to design, coordinate and participate in educationally enriching activities that are good for the community.

Because the project is not viewed as work, O’Neill has seen students who previously hid at the back of the class seek her out for more responsibility.

“I am thoroughly impressed by every single student and the initiative they’ve shown,” she said.

Senior Angelysa Hudson is one of those students, admitting that math has never been her forte.

“The reason I took this class is because I’m not good at math at all and I heard it was easy,” the 18-year-old said. “But I’ve learned more in this class than I have in other math classes — things I can actually use in real life.”

Not only has the project been fun, it has opened other doors for Hudson as well.

“Before I didn’t want anything to do with math. I hated it,” Hudson said. “But after this experience of helping to get the project together and doing an actual job, I’ve considered going into business and accounting, which I never pictured.”