Throughout November, students in Mr. Martin’s math classes jumped at the chance to donate to the Mayflower Marathon and earn bonus points to boost their grades. 

The catch: you could only donate SPAM. 

The Math wing has always been notorious for raising countless donations towards the Mayflower Marathon, most classes easily able to raise dozens of non-perishables. Teachers like Mr. Pieres are able to raise a wall of cans that would amaze anyone, leaving students gossiping about the sheer number of donations they are able to collect. 

With an emphasis on tuna and peanut butter, protein was the sought-after donation this year. Many teachers decided to reward double bonus points for students who donate some sort of protein, like Madame Cook, who awarded twice as many points to anyone donating those items. 

Mr. Martin tried a different approach. 

Rewarding both individual and class bonus, Martin’s classes were able to raise just under 300 cans of SPAM. Students who donated at least a can of SPAM were able to receive five extra points, and the class who donated the most ounces of SPAM would each get ten points. 

It’s an event Mr. Martin started just last year — rewarding whichever class had the most cans of SPAM with extra bonus points. He recounts stories of students cheating the system— bringing single ounce cans into his class instead of the typical 12 ounce ones, stories from before he implemented the rule of ounces, instead of just cans.  

This year, however, he continues the tradition — giving his students extra points for bringing in cans. 

The concept, as silly as it sounds, works. Because of the interesting nature of the competition, and the substantial amount of times he introduces the competition in his class (I could recall countless times of starting a class with new SPAM recipes—most notably a SPAM pizza), students are exceptionally competitive, willing to spend upwards of fifty dollars on cans of SPAM for a chance at an extra ten points. 

Martin claims that he decided on SPAM to be his food of choice for one simple reason: it provides nutrients not found in most other non-perishables, as SPAM is canned meat, and not a vegetable or grain. 

Through his approach of donations to the Mayflower Marathon, this year marks Mr. Martin’s classes as top contributors to the Mayflower Marathon.