Nativity Catholic admins sleep on school roof after losing bet INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Two school administrators woke up on top of the roof of Nativity Catholic School on Wednesday morning all as part of a bet they lost. Principal Mary Beth Keiser wanted to drive donations for their annual Walkathon fundraiser. So, she told students and their families that if they raised $25,000, she would sleep on top of the school’s roof. This year, the school is looking to raise money to get 19 SMART boards in their classroom. That milestone only took a week to complete. Keiser then upped the ante by roping in Assistant Principal Michelle Semon if donations reached $40,000. On Wednesday, the principal said the campaign raised about $55,000. “Right now my teachers have a pull-down screen and they project from their computer,” Keiser said. “This is really outdated technology. (The SMART boards are) a better use of technology, a lot more interaction.” According to Keiser, the classrooms are outdated. The admin hopes to bring more technology to the students with the SMART boards. With the money raised so far, the school was able to buy and install 13 of these interactive whiteboards. Semon says it was a windy night on the roof and they weren’t able to get much sleep. It’s something she would do again. “The kids absolutely loved having us up here,” Semon said. “They’ve been excited for weeks ever since we announced that we were going to be up here, they’ve asked us daily. ‘When are you sleeping on the roof?’ So, just to see the kids loving, it was worth it.” Nativity Catholic School is on the southeast side of Indianapolis, just off of Southeastern Avenue. It serves 375 students in pre-school through 8th grade. The private school is part of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis. For its annual fundraiser, the school normally does a Walkathon with a flat fee to participate. This year, Keiser decided to switch up the donation model by changing it to a pledge-based system. The first milestone was hit at $12,000, which meant the event would have a bounce-house for students. Keiser said she did not think they would reach the $25,000 mark so quickly. “When I said I’d sleep on the roof, I didn’t even research the fact that there’s only one little section that’s flat,” Keiser said. “I knew I had to go big. This is our first year to truly do the pledges and I just knew I had to do something that would grab the attention of the students..” The school admins say the total price of all 19 boards is about $89,000. They are still short 6 boards, leaving some grades and elective classrooms without the tool. To find out more about the school’s campaign, visit the Walkathon’s webpage.