The school wouldn’t be the same without the help of OneRio and PTSA’s Duck Derby, an annual event that raises money and school spirit through yellow rubber ducks.

The Duck Derby is a raffle and fund raiser that runs from Sept. 8 with a kick-off rally through the 22nd. To be entered in the raffle, you can purchase rubber ducks for $10 each.

“The goal is to adopt all 3,000 ducks to make $30,000 towards Rio school pride and spirit events, programs, and projects,” said Duck Derby Chair Kelli Wheeler.

Students can buy their ducks personally and encourage family and friends to support their school. The class who sells the most ducks will receive $1,000 to fund events, t-shirts, and first entry into the pool deck during raffle drawing.

“The Class of 2018 has won it the last two years and has used it to cover costs and make a large profit on t-shirt sales then raised money for things like Junior Prom and Senior Ball,” said Wheeler.

Weekly drawings to win gift cards from places like Crazy for Yogurt and Starbucks will be held and whoever turns in their order form to the attendance office will be entered.

“Students can also turn in sales sheets and money to the Daily Duck Table at lunch for free food and a free t-shirt if they have at least $100 worth of sales,” said Wheeler.

Thanks to the $14,500 the school earned at last year’s derby, these profits have had a gotten the school the koi pond mural, ILS garden, and funding for the We Choose Rio club. This year, OneRio is hosting a new senior event which is kick started from this fund raiser.“A portion of this year’s profits will pay for the buses for the new senior tradition, an end of the year senior pool party and BBQ,” said Wheeler.

The raffle and of the ducks will be Sept. 8 and is not an event to be missed if you participated.

“The raffle drawing will start at noon on the pool deck with all the ducks being dumped in the diving pool,” said Wheeler. “Whichever class sells the most ducks will have their designated Duck Dunker, a staff member they have chosen, dive in and select 27 winning ducks for the $3,500 in prizes.”

The first two ducks chosen will win $500 and 25 more will win $100. Other raffle winners will receive a free t-shirt. In addition to the raffle, the top 20 sellers will get free lunch at the celebration and a Dutch Bros gift card. Winners will be called or emailed to claim their prizes.

The spring Duck Derby celebration is going to be Apr. 22 in the quad.

“The Duck Derby Celebration, in the quad if it’s open, will have BBQ hamburger and hot dog meals for sale, Crazy for Yogurt for sale, and DJ music by senior Blake Harris,” said Wheeler.

Students will receive order forms in their 5th period class the day of the rally and can also order on OneRio.org or SquareUp.