Project Graduation hosted a donkey basketball fundraiser event, raising $1700, in the middle school gym Oct. 31. The seniors and staff competed in a basketball game while riding donkeys at the fundraising event.  

“I was nervous,”  history teacher Marie Thompson said. “I have a bad knee that I have surgery for in two weeks, but I wanted to do what I could do to help the kids. So I was just hoping I wouldn’t fall off badly.“

The event was put together by Sabine ISD Education Foundation executive director Misty Gee who is also in charge of Project Graduation this year. The donkeys used in the game were all acquired from the Dairyland Donkey Ball, LLC.

“There were a lot of people there,” senior Caitlin Bates said. “When I first walked out, I was surprised at the amount of people that did show up because we had  60-something presale tickets already.”

Around 210 people attended the donkey basketball game. Children and younger students 12 and under who went to the event were able to ride the donkeys during intermission time. 

“Boys got on one side, girls got on the other, and a kid would get on [a donkey] and then the donkey would walk them across the [gym],” senior Emma Gee said. “Sometimes a donkey would not want to go, so you’d have to pull on his little rein.”

Seniors and the staff struggled while getting on donkeys that were taller than them, and many donkeys bucked off teachers.

“My cross country coach [Jason Heffner] got bucked off from the donkey several times,” senior Caleb Cox said. 

The seniors were separated into two teams, team A playing first quarter and Team B second quarter. The seniors won the game with eight points.

“It was a very fun experience, and I was kind of sad to leave my donkey,” Bates said.