Fun and hard work for car wash kids: Fundraiser at the school for class trip

There were rainbows on School Street Saturday morning.

The kind that appear in the mist from hoses spraying in sunlight, as eight students and three parents had the annual car washing fund raiser for 7th graders for their class trip, which should take place during the 2026-2027 school year. 

The event ran from 8 to 11 a.m., and by a little past 9 o’clock, 25 cars had already been washed and a line of seven more were waiting. The cost was $14 and $18 for mid-size and bigger vehicles; many people paying with 20 dollar bills didn’t want the change. 

“And some people have come by and just donated without getting their cars washed,” said teacher Jen Gulluscio, the organizer and manager of the event. She has taken over from her mother-in-law Ginny Gibbs, who was the guiding light of the fundraiser for more than 30 years, Ms. Gulluscio said. 

The youngsters were working hard and efficiently with soap, brushes, cloths and those rainbow-creating hoses. But this kind of work, done by kids can’t help but result in some fun.

Amara Cajamarca, 13, was wearing “my aunt’s rain jacket,” and a good thing, since it looked like it had come through a downpour. “I wear it when it’s cold and rainy,” Amara said, which it was not on the clear, cool September morning. 

She didn’t need much coaching on how to wash the line of cars. “I wash my aunt’s and uncle’s car all the time,” Amara said.

The same was said by Zach Hermosura, 12. “I wash my brother Miguel’s car,” he said and when asked if it was a chore, he said, “No. I’m a car guy.”

Were cars coming one after another more difficult than just cleaning up Miguel’s? “Easy peasy,” Zack said, standing in a T-shirt and soaking-wet shorts. 

The two were asked who had sprayed them. They both immediately pointed at each other. But they were smiling while simultaneously denying the accusations.

Ms. Gulluscio said some people had complained that the class trip to Disney World had nothing to do with education (forgetting perhaps that having fun is an important part of growing up). But Ms. Gulluscio noted that, “It’s not a roller coaster-ride kind of vacation.” The students will be enrolled in the Disney’s Imagination Campus and take a physics seminar. “There are literature courses and history courses,” she said. “This year it’s physics for our kids.”

The teacher also noted that the trip for some students will be an expansion of their horizons, since “it will be the time going on vacation for some kids, the first time away from parents, and the first time out of the state for others. It will teach them self-reliance and time-management, where they’ll have down time, but also will be expected to show up for certain things.”

Back on the line Amara and Zach were working hard, along with the others, soaping up a vehicle before getting ready to use the hose, or maybe, now and then, directing it elsewhere.