On September 21st, Harmony celebrated the 40th Annual Extravaganza, a time-honored tradition at the school campus in the Elm Heights Neighborhood, dating back to the original Elm Heights School Penny Carnival. Every year, the school community and surrounding neighbors enjoy this festival, which features live entertainment, local food vendors, and carnival games for the whole family.

This year, Harmony parent Marika Voukidis volunteered to lead planning for this family-favorite event. Harmony asks parents and families to engage in the Harmony Community Co-Op Program throughout the school year, which requires 22 hours of volunteer service for single parents and 44 hours for two-parent households.

While this event planning fulfilled Marika’s Co-Op commitment for this school year, her motivation for giving back goes deeper than logging volunteer hours.

“Research shows that children are more successful the more a parent volunteers at school, so I volunteer to help Nory succeed,” Marika said.

Thanks to Marika’s leadership the 40th Annual Extravaganza raised over $2,500 for Harmony’s Scholarship Fund. In addition to the financial success of the event Harmony Operations Director Tonya Walden praised Marika’s contributions to the event.

“Marika is an amazing Extravaganza Coordinator! Her dedication and organization kept us on track, and her presence makes every meeting more fun,” Walden said.  “Without her leadership, I don’t think Extravaganza would have happened this year. Or if it did, it wouldn’t have been nearly as nice.”

Even though the Extravaganza has concluded, Marika’s volunteer work continues this semester, as she plans to host a club. “Volunteering doesn’t have to be a burden,” Marika said, “You just have to find a way to contribute that works for you.”

To learn more about how you can give back to Harmony as a parent or community volunteer, contact Harmony’s Co-Op Coordinator Dustin Feathers at [email protected] (parents) or reach out our Development Team at [email protected] (community volunteers).