Chuck in a Truck made his way around the school from December 1st to December 23rd. Students were encouraged to scan the QR code found with his truck because the students that found him the most days would win a Sheetz Gift Card.

The high school social worker, Shayla Brink said the idea for Chuck in a Truck initially started during a teacher School Climate meeting. During School Climate, Brink said a lot of ideas get tossed around but it doesn’t always fall through. So, Brink said she has been working to take the ideas that the teachers come up with and put them into place.

“Last month we had the Scavenger Hunt with facts about teachers and there wasn’t that much participation, so we were trying to figure out ways to get kids involved with stuff in school,” Brink said about how they came up with the idea for Chuck in a Truck. She said once Alicia Weaver and Jennifer White came up with the name for him, the idea “blossomed.”

Brink said she has not noticed a decline in student’s participation from the beginning of Chuck in a Truck, and there is a chunk of students who actively seek Chuck out every day.

“It’s good enough for me if it makes someone smile,” Brink said, adding that it is exciting to see so many people participating.

Brink, who graduated from Punxsy High School in 2013, said she wants school to be a more fun place, and she doesn’t want kids to not want to come to school.

Jennifer White came up with the name for Chuck in a Truck with Alicia Weaver. She said they wanted it to be based on the idea of Punxsutawney Phil, so they kicked around ideas until they came up with Chuck in a Truck.

White said she thinks it is a nice idea particularly for the younger kids who don’t know the building as well. She said the idea was to have students see parts and people of the building they may not know, especially now when everyone has half their face covered.

“I just hope people are realizing it is okay to be silly and get excited about funny things,” White said. “I am a full grown professional adult and I still get excited to see what Chuck is wearing. It’s a good message to send to the kids to stop taking yourself so seriously and just enjoy the day and whatever it brings.”

Eighth grader Madison Rudolph said she has found Chuck in a Truck most days, only missing a few. She said she would usually go with Keagan McCarthy and Dakota Petroff to find where Chuck was that day.

Rudolph said she thinks it is a good idea because it makes students happy to be able to celebrate Christmas both at home and in school, and some students are able to celebrate Christmas at school because they aren’t really able to at home.

She said she didn’t see many students looking for Chuck, just a couple here or there, but she was happy to participate in it.

“It makes the kids seem like they can do something fun instead of doing just work. They can go look for something if they don’t have anything else to do,” Rudolph said, adding that it makes Christmas tradition fun.

Eighth grader Kahli Reddinger said she usually goes with Ava Bodenhorn, Emily Bussard, and Bryce Bergreen to find Chuck in a Truck during activity period. She said she has found Chuck everyday except for the day of our early dismissal, which only four people found him that day.

Reddinger said she has seen a lot of eighth graders going to find Chuck during the activity period when she is looking. She said her favorite part in participating in Chuck in a Truck is getting to see his outfits every day, which her favorite was on December 14th.

“I think that is what Miss Shayla’s point is in doing this because she just wants us to have fun in this not so normal year,” Reddinger said.

The winners were announced on December 23rd and were Kahli Reddinger, Ava Bodenhorn, Emily Bussard, Malachi Hales, Michael Coleman, Laura Rittenhouse, and Louise Bennett.