First, there was the Golden Shoe. Then came the Honey Jar. And now, the friendly rivalry between North Royalton and Brecksville-Broadview Heights High Schools will continue with a nod recognizing superior community service and philanthropy.
Members of the Student Council groups from North Royalton and Brecksville-Broadview Heights High Schools have teamed up for a friendly fundraising competition raising needed monies for Providence House, a crisis nursery in Cleveland that ranks as the oldest and largest such agency in the United States.
Now through March 29, both schools will compete with one another to see which can raise the most funds for Providence House. North Royalton kicked off its fundraising campaign with a 50/50 Raffle during the Feb. 9 Boys Varsity Basketball game versus Brecksville-Broadview Heights and the Valentine’s Day “Carnation Gram Sale” selling carnations, a card and Hershey Kisses for $2 each. Grams were purchased by students and later hand-delivered to their recipients on Valentine’s Day. More fundraising events are in the works including T-Shirt and bake sales, according to information released by the City School District.
Donations are also being accepted online at http://www.provhouse.org/north-royalton-high-school. Visitors to the website can see a live marker displaying monies raised in real-time by each school.
“We have the Golden Shoe for football and the Honey Jar for basketball and now we’d like to create a Service Award,” said Santina Narduzzi, freshman class advisor and family/consumer sciences teacher.
For those who don’t know the backstories of the Golden Shoe and the Honey Jar, NRHS Principal Sean Osborne provided some history.
“The Golden Shoe is an actual, used football shoe that has been painted gold and has become the symbol of the rivalry between Brecksville-Broadview Heights High School and North Royalton High School football teams,” Osborne said. “The tradition began in 1936 with Brecksville winning the game and they were presented a used football shoe painted gold. The shoe belonged to North Royalton Player John Weisman. Since then, it has been passed back and forth most years to the winner of the rivalry football game. It has affectionately become known by students as simply ‘The Shoe.’ The Honey Jar is a newer addition to the rivalry. The honey jar began being passed between the Brecksville-Broadview Heights High School and North Royalton High School basketball teams. The Honey Jar is passed based on the winner of the boys’ basketball game. This year, both The Golden Shoe and The Honey Jar make their home at NRHS after the Bears were victorious in both football and basketball games.”
To understand first-hand how Providence House assists those in need, members of both North Royalton and Brecksville-Broadview Heights High School student councils visited the facility in January for a tour and meet-and-greet.“Our visit brought some students to tears and it helped them see how fortunate we are to have this local organization,” Narduzzi said. “This service award is not about the win between the districts’, but it’s about every dollar going in for a cause.”
Providence House, which offers free, voluntary emergency shelter to children and babies living in crisis situations of abuse and neglect, took a huge hit in its state funding totaling $310,000, said CEO Natalie Leek-Nelson, in a promotional video released by the City School District.
“It means about 140 babies and children won’t get in if we can’t close the gap,” she said.
Roughly 350 babies and children live in the shelter annually, with the average stay lasting one month. The school districts are hoping to raise $10,000 apiece. Students at NRHS challenged Narduzzi to personally raise $1,000, and as of Feb. 10, she had surpassed her goal via her page on gofundme at https://www.gofundme.com/providence-house-nrhs-challenge.
North Royalton was approached by Holly Thrasher, student council advisor at BBHHS, to engage in the friendly fundraising competition. Several fundraising ideas are coming together to support the cause, including a possible community Bingo Night, a Willy Wonka-style Golden Ticket sale, and a school assembly teacher versus students challenge.
The fundraiser competition concludes March 29. Stay up-to-date with fundraising news and happenings by following NRHS on Twitter via @NoRoNation.

By SARA MACHO HILL
Contributing Writer