Senior Auction

On the evening of January 10, the Mercersburg Academy campus buzzed with an unusual level of excitement and friendly competition. Entrepreneurship, the senior capstone, hosted its annual Senior Auction, a philanthropic event designed to fund the traditional senior class gift. The evening proved to be a success, raising a total of $5,792.60 through the collective generosity of students, faculty, and staff.

Todd McGuire, Entrepreneurship teacher, commented on the night. "Most of the time the senior class gift goes towards the annual fund," he noted. "Everyone dug deep to get stuff to auction. In comparison to other nights, we probably raised more money this year."

The event was hosted by Jack Pollinger ‘26, Grant Wilkinson ‘26, and Anderson Wang ‘26, and organized by students in Entrepreneurship, Grace Labans ‘26 and Logan Pixler ‘26.

Planning began early in the fall term. "We started to come up with the idea at the start of the term," Pixler said. "Originally, it was envisioned as a breast cancer awareness auction, but it evolved into the senior auction. Behind the scenes, we were all trying to put stuff together."

The collection and curation of the donations factored heavily in the night’s success. Labans explained, "Each of us had to obtain four items individually. People brought items from home and came up with creative concepts, like the picnic themes. If there were questions about an item’s appeal, we would meet as a class to discuss if it was worth putting on the line-up."

The diversity of the auction catalog ensured there was something for everyone. Items ranged from custom clothing to student-made art and experiential prizes. For many, the night was defined by "the love of the game." Jack Kendall ’29 noted, "I think it’s awesome. As a group, we spent about $350 in total for the picnic date with Alishya. It was for a good cause."

Other students, like Sonkwon Oh ’28, became major players, spending roughly $600 on items including a drawing of his pet by Gaven McGuire ’26 and a dinner with science teacher Jessica Dobrin.

The undisputed climax of the evening centered on an offering from Head of School Quentin McDowell. He offered a "trade": the winning bidder would become the official Mercersburg Head of School for a day, while he would step into the student's shoes, attending their classes and taking notes on their behalf. The highlight of the night was Lucas Chen ‘27, who pushed the price to its record-breaking final total. "I started bidding when it was about $900 and I got it up to about $1800," Chen shared. "I thought it was kind of disappointing that the picnic date only went up to $300, so I was like, why not have some fun? I wasn't even thinking about what would happen if I ended up winning and had to pay; I was just bluffing and having fun." As the price climbed, the community rallied behind him. "A lot of friends offered to chip in to help pay, so I was riding high."

McDowell was equally thrilled by the outcome. "I thought it would be cool to let someone be the Head of School for the day, then I ultimately decided it would be more fun to trade places with them," he said. "It’s a win-win for me because I get to hang out in our community, which is really fun."