When McCleary School middle school students returned for the start of the 2025-2026 school year, those who selected weights as an elective would have entered a refreshed classroom.

A treadmill, a complete set of medicine balls, a bench, and equipment racks were among the new pieces of equipment the students could learn to use. This new equipment is because of an idea that eighth grader Jacelyn Ralkey brought to the McCleary Wildcat Boosters and which they and Principal John Heley helped bring to fruition.

During the summer of 2024, Jacelyn participated in a summer weights program at Elma High School; the program was strongly encouraged in preparation for playing soccer that fall at Elma.

“When I worked out there, there was lots of equipment, and there was lots of opportunities,” said Jacelyn.

Upon returning to the McCleary School where she selected weights as the PE elective, she looked at the school’s weight room with a perspective.

“We had all the equipment that we needed, and it was really great, but we could have an update,” Jacelyn. “I thought it would be a good idea to add some more stuff in there so we could have more opportunities for everybody.”

With her mom, Jamie, being a McCleary Wildcat Booster members and board member, Jacelyn would attend their meetings. And at one meeting, she pitched her idea.

“When she originally brought this to the PTO, she wasn’t asking for a donation, she was [saying] what can I do,” said Jamie.

That brought Heley into the discussion, Jamie said, and he was “great in guiding her through the whole process saying, ‘Okay, let’s do this and go through these steps.’”

“Obviously, JC, bringing this idea about what she saw in her summer weights program, there’s inspiration there” but there were also day-to-day classroom considerations, said Heley.

Jacelyn hadn’t anticipated that her idea couldn’t be quickly implemented.

“As time went on, I knew it was going to take longer, and it was just like trusting that it was going to be good, and it was like just going to turn out really well,” she said.

Together, Heley and Jacelyn drafted a list of new equipment that was needed, which included a treadmill and full sets of free weights and kettlebells.

With the McCleary Wildcat Boosters providing the required tax identification number needed for soliciting donations, Jacelyn designed an online fundraising campaign and typed a letter that she hand-signed and delivered to businesses in McCleary and Elma. One of them was Our Community Credit Union (OURCU).

“We get a lot of donation requests, of course, but it’s very few and far between, I think, besides the FFA program that you see a young person coming in … and I think we were all very inspired by that,” said Rachelle Clark, the manager of the OURCU McCleary branch.

When the marketing team, which has the final say on approving donation requests, met later that week, Clark remembered being excited to deliver the news that Jacelyn’s request was approved.

“I don’t think I quite expected the reaction of how inspired they all were [saying] absolutely, we need to do this, and we need to do it all,” she said. “I was like, ‘I can’t wait to call her.’”

In May 2025, OURCU delivered a $3,000 check to Jacelyn. This donation, coupled with the donations provided by Summit Pacific Medical Foundation, Vaughan Company, Dennis Company Ace, and community members, helped Jacelyn exceed the project goal of $3,000 — she raised almost $5,000.

The equipment was installed in the summer of 2025. Heley said they’ve spent 95% of the funds.

“We knew that we needed to leave a little bit just as some of the funds as the year progresses,” he said. “Did we forget something or something gets broken or worn out.”

As what the students think about the weight room refresh, Jacelyn said that her favorite reaction was a student saying, “‘JC got us all a treadmill.’ It was just really funny to see that. And all the kids just really like having that extra equipment to work out on and do extra extended things.”

Students take pride in a space when they know that money and effort has been directed toward them and this weight room will benefit everyone in time, Heley said.

Where the weight room used to only be available to the middle school students, with the addition of the new equipment and arranging of the staffing, Heley said that there is a section of 5th graders who use the weight room too. However, there is only room for 20 students at a time in the weight room.

“Miss Ferrier [8th grade advisor and teacher Bethany Ferrier] really try to get the kids that are going to put forth great effort and really benefit from the program,” Jamie said. “When they’re there, they’re really going to do the work,” Jamie said.

Jacelyn’s younger sister is one of those students who is in the weight class.

“I do see the difference in just my kids alone, by having that strength training and breathing techniques and exercises,” Jamie said.

“You can tell a lot of the people who do weights, when you see their performance before they started weights and what they’re doing now,” Jacelyn said. “You can see definitely their performance is like way bigger and their stamina is better.”

Heley said that this is the best type of project.

“It was led by a student who then used the school channels and then tapped into our community resources, and we had an agency in the community that wanted to partner with us to push this across the finish line because we couldn’t have done it without Rachelle and her team at OURCU,” Heley said.

Now a freshman at Elma High School, Jacelyn didn’t even have a chance to use the equipment before she graduated, but she hears about it from her younger sister.

“Her sister comes home and tells her all about what she’s got to do,” Jamie said.