HHS holds Mega Raffle to benefit Washington DC trip

HOLLY, Michigan – It’s the raffle of all raffles this year as Holly High School Language Arts teacher, Anthony Coggins attempts to raise enough funds to take a group of lucky HHS students to Washington DC, free of charge.

Coggins is coordinating the Holly High School Washington DC Mega Raffle, selling 1,000 tickets at $100 per ticket, and potentially raising $100,000 in the process. An all cash-prize raffle, the winning ticket holder will win $10,000. Second, third and fourth prizes are $5,000, $3,000 and 2,000 respectively, while sixth through tenth prize winners get $1,000 each, eleventh though fifteenth prize winners each win $500, and sixteenth through twentieth prize winners all win $250 apiece.  

Most of the remaining raffle money will be used to send at least 20 lucky HHS students to our nation’s capital for a 6-day all-expense paid trip, June 24-29, 2012.

While there is no real “standard” used in selecting students for the trip, Coggins said students showing an interest in government and history are typically eligible to go, provided they don’t have any discipline problems in school.

Coggins said “Project Closeup” began in 2002, taking a group of students to Washington DC at a cost of $936 per student. Today, that  price per students has doubled, costing close to $2,000 per student for the trip.

“In this economy, I cannot ask kids to pay that amount,” Coggins said. “I was able to develop a trip to Washington DC that I will personally lead and do it at a much smaller cost,” he added. “I am hoping we will be able to sell enough tickets to cover the entire trip, but if not, the all-inclusive cost is $875 per student.”

Traveling along with Coggins will be colleagues and HHS teachers, Haley Street and Jeremy Barkey. “Both of these staff members are loved by the students, and will help the students to both learn, and have a great time on the trip,” Coggins said.

Over the years in taking HHS students to Washington DC, Coggins said students have been able to connect with Michigan politicians like Rep. Mike Rogers, and Senators Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow, as well as other national politicians including former Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, former Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of State, Hilary Rodham Clinton, and former Speakers of the House, Dennis Hastert and Nancy Pelosi.

“Washington DC, even with all the acrimony in politics, is the heartbeat of this country,” Coggins said. “The most important decisions are made there on a daily basis, and students need to see, feel and experience the importance of the city.”

As June marks Coggin’s twentieth visit to Washington DC, he said he is able to show students more than just the usual monuments. ‘Students find out the significance of Arlington National Cemetery and the story of the men and women buried there,” Coggins said. “They learn the reasoning for the placement of the monuments and the significance of the National Mall, how the Supreme Court once served ‘under’ the United States Congress and many other stories,” he added. “It is my personal favorite city, but I also feel it has enough historical and political significance that every student should visit at least once.”

Tickets will be sold at all Holly High School football and basketball games through February, with the drawing taking place on Feb. 24 following the basketball doubleheader at 9 p.m. in the HHS gymnasium, 6161 E. Holly Rd., Holly.

Tickets can be purchased online through a HHS PaySchools portal by clicking on the Washington DC Trip  link.  Those wishing to purchase tickets online need only to first establish an account, and then are able to proceed with a credit card transaction. Receipts for ticket purchases can be exchanged for raffle tickets by either contacting Coggins at (248) 328-3200, extension 5321 or via email at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , or by contacting parent co-chairs for the program, Renee Curtis at (586) 495-0612, or Lorraine Moller at (810) 449-2881.

A direct link to the HHS PaySchool portal can be found on the HHS Mega Raffle advertisement on the Holly Express’ Merchant Banner Network.