The class of 2006 put a spin on fundraising when dates with seniors were auctioned off during the first ever senior week.

Senior Student Executive Council member Natalie Kirkish came up with the idea of an auction. “I saw it on shows like ‘One Tree Hill’ where they auctioned people off for a day and I thought it’d be a good, fun way to raise money,” Kirkish said.

Students were selected through various methods. “Some students volunteered and others we recruited by popular demand,” senior Student Body President Channing Hancock said. Of the students that were auctioned, the highest amount someone paid for a date was $26, and the lowest was 75 cents. A few students chose whether they wanted to be raffled or auctioned, and others were bid on.

Though the event was in good nature, some thought it was inappropriate. “Even if all the people involved are okay with [the auction], it sends a message that the class as a whole is okay with selling people,” senior Bryson Peckenpaugh said. “Since I know a few people who turned down the idea because they thought it was immoral, that message was inaccurate.”

The dates took place Jan. 28 and 29 and consisted of a homemade dinner at a senior’s house and a showing of Fast Times at Ridgemont High in Gunn’s Little Theater. Senior AJ Giaccia was one of the students auctioned off. “The night was fun,” he said.

Fellow senior Noa Bruhis agreed. “The date was fun, but it could have been a little more exciting,” she said. “I think if they planned and advertised it more, it would have been better. More people could have known about the movie in the Little Theater. It was pretty empty.”

Whether there will be an auction next year is up to the class of 2007.

Other senior fundraisers included a dinner at Chevy’s, cake raffles and a junk sale. The money will go toward paying off their $1,200 debt, among other expenses.