ONLINE HED: The Boosters
HED: All for One, One for All
DEK: Royals Booster Club supports the financial needs of all activities at Woodbury High School.
BYLINE: Kelly Butorac
PULL QUOTE: “Woodbury High School is great for many reasons. But it is not great for one sport or one activity. If we can support a variety of different activities we are helping the school in a bigger way.” – Eric Rislove, Royals Booster Club president
The beauty of high school is that there are endless extracurricular activities to try, groups to support, and sporting and art events to attend. The administrators at Woodbury High School (WHS) acknowledged this and set out to do something about the way financial support is divvied out. Enter the Royals Booster Club (RBC).
There are 28 sports teams, seven art programs and 81 clubs at WHS; that makes 116 organizations in all. And the RBC supports each and every one. The group was founded 2010 on an “all for one and one for all” mentality; it doesn’t place one sports team or extracurricular club above the rest. This is the mission of the RBC: to financially support each club at WHS, says current RBC president Eric Rislove. Rislove knows a thing or two about high school activity participation: He was elected RBC president just last June and is a 1991 WHS graduate. He played on the basketball, baseball and golf teams. “I wanted to help kids have a good high school activities experience,” he says.
Mary Jo Kurtz, whose children graduated from WHS in 2011 and last spring, became an RBC volunteer four years ago. She was drawn to the organization for the same reason as Rislove. “I realized that all of these little groups need funding to help keep their group successful,” Kurtz says. “I wasn’t only going to help my child, I was going to help every child.”
Many sports teams and larger clubs have individual booster clubs, but the RBC works with these boosters closely, as well as the clubs that don’t have their own, to help them be more efficient in their fundraising. The RBC earns money through concession sales and its two major events, the Royal Rouser and the Woodbury Hall of Fame. “[The Royal Rouser] is a huge, cool thing we do at the school,” Rislove says. Each spring, the event gathers the Woodbury community to celebrate all things Royals: directors, coaches, students and advisors who contribute to the high school. Each year’s WHS Hall of Fame is also announced at the Rouser. The selections highlight the accomplishments of alumni and coaches—those who have made a significant impact on WHS. The newly inducted group is celebrated at the homecoming festivities the next school year.
The money raised through these events is then given out through a grant process. If a club is in need of assistance for funding, it submits an application to the RBC. “It’s a really equitable, sustainable model that values all of the groups at the high school,” WHS activities director Jason Gonnion says. WHS’s clubs are appreciative, too.
Kelly Monkman first joined the tennis team booster club when his daughters, 2014 graduate Taylor and freshman Jenica, joined the team. He is now the president and describes the relationship with the RBC as a partnership; they both lend a hand to the other. “It’s very difficult to raise funds; you have to do what you can do,” Monkman says. There’s a real opportunity from the RBC to be helpful in regards to smaller booster clubs.”
Whether they are hosting their own events such as the Royal Rouser or assisting clubs with finances, one thing is clear: the RBC is committed to making a memorable experience for all high school students. “WHS is great for many reasons. But it is not great for one sport or one activity,” Rislove says. “If we can support a variety of different activities, we are helping the school in a bigger way.”
WHS Hall of Fame
Join the RBC as they celebrate the third annual WHS Hall of Fame class during this fall’s high school homecoming activities at Royals Stadium on October 11. Six nominees—Ann (Lindberg) Menier ’94, Bill Schiffler ’83, Dan Cavanagh ’97, Gary Halvorson District 833 ’76-’10, Jennifer “Twin” Starr ’78-’01 and Katie (Oien) Jones ’93—were selected at the Royal Rouser event last April and will be celebrated during halftime at the football game.
The beauty of high school is that there are endless extracurricular activities to try, groups to support, and sporting and art events to attend. The administrators at Woodbury High School (WHS) acknowledged this and set out to do something about the way financial support is divvied out. Enter the Royals Booster Club (RBC).There are 28 sports teams, seven art programs and 81 clubs at WHS; that makes 116 organizations in all. And the RBC supports each and every one.
The group was founded 2010 on an “all for one and one for all” mentality; it doesn’t place one sports team or extracurricular club above the rest. This is the mission of the RBC: to financially support each club at WHS, says current RBC president Eric Rislove. Rislove knows a thing or two about high school activity participation: He was elected RBC president just last June and is a 1991 WHS graduate. He played on the basketball, baseball and golf teams.
“I wanted to help kids have a good high school activities experience,” he says. Mary Jo Kurtz, whose children graduated from WHS in 2011 and last spring, became an RBC volunteer four years ago.
She was drawn to the organization for the same reason as Rislove. “I realized that all of these little groups need funding to help keep their group successful,” Kurtz says. “I wasn’t only going to help my child, I was going to help every child.”
Many sports teams and larger clubs have individual booster clubs, but the RBC works with these boosters closely, as well as the clubs that don’t have their own, to help them be more efficient in their fundraising. The RBC earns money through concession sales and its two major events, the Royal Rouser and the Woodbury Hall of Fame.
“[The Royal Rouser] is a huge, cool thing we do at the school,” Rislove says.
Each spring, the event gathers the Woodbury community to celebrate all things Royals: directors, coaches, students and advisors who contribute to the high school. Each year’s WHS Hall of Fame is also announced at the Rouser. The selections highlight the accomplishments of alumni and coaches—those who have made a significant impact on WHS. The newly inducted group is celebrated at the homecoming festivities the next school year.The money raised through these events is then given out through a grant process. If a club is in need of assistance for funding, it submits an application to the RBC.
“It’s a really equitable, sustainable model that values all of the groups at the high school,” WHS activities director Jason Gonnion says.
WHS’s clubs are appreciative, too. Kelly Monkman first joined the tennis team booster club when his daughters, 2014 graduate Taylor and freshman Jenica, joined the team. He is now the president and describes the relationship with the RBC as a partnership; they both lend a hand to the other.
“It’s very difficult to raise funds; you have to do what you can do,” Monkman says. There’s a real opportunity from the RBC to be helpful in regards to smaller booster clubs.”
Whether they are hosting their own events such as the Royal Rouser or assisting clubs with finances, one thing is clear: the RBC is committed to making a memorable experience for all high school students.
“WHS is great for many reasons. But it is not great for one sport or one activity,” Rislove says. “If we can support a variety of different activities, we are helping the school in a bigger way.”
WHS Hall of Fame
Join the RBC as they celebrate the third annual WHS Hall of Fame class during this fall’s high school homecoming activities at Royals Stadium on October 11.
Six nominees—
Ann (Lindberg) Menier ’94
Bill Schiffler ’83
Dan Cavanagh ’97
Gary Halvorson District 833 ’76-’10
Jennifer “Twin” Starr ’78-’01
Katie (Oien) Jones ’93
—were selected at the Royal Rouser event last April and will be celebrated during halftime at the football game.
