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Outrage after South Dakota teachers crawl to collect money for schools in 'Dash for Cash'

The 'Dash for Cash' event took place during Sioux Falls Stampede junior ice hockey game at the Denny Sanford Premier Center

Twitter users were aghast to find a video of ten teachers from South Dakota​ competing in a pit to collect as much cash as possible in five minutes to fund much-needed improvements in their classrooms or schools.

The 'Dash for Cash' event took place during Saturday night’s (December 11) Sioux Falls Stampede junior ice hockey game at the Denny Sanford Premier Center. A total of $5,000 pot of cash was donated by a local Sioux Falls mortgage lender CU Mortgage Direct. One of the videos from the event, that went viral, posted by podcaster Brian Tyler Cohen, showed the teachers crawling across a mat with the dollar bills strewn across it, as they stuffed the cash into their clothes, grabbing as much as they could. 

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'They deserve whatever the heck they get'

"With everything that has gone on for the last couple of years with teachers and everything, we thought it was an awesome group thing to do for the teachers," Ryan Knudson, business development and marketing director at CU Mortgage Direct, told the Sioux Falls Argus Leader. "The teachers in this area, and any teacher, they deserve whatever the heck they get."

Harrisburg High School teacher Barry Longden, who managed to snag the highest amount of the lot -- $616 told the local publication Sioux Falls Argus Leader that he was planning to use the money to help buy equipment for his school's e-sports club. "I've been throwing my name in the hat everywhere I can find so that way I can get opportunities to get money for the kids," Longden said. One fifth-grade teacher, who collected $592 in the competitive scramble for cash, also enjoyed the event, telling the local paper: “I think it's really cool when the community offers an opportunity like this for things that educations a lot of times pay out of pocket for.”

'Disgusting & dehumanizing'

However, social media did not agree with how the event played out. "This is NOT funny. #SouthDakota," one of them said, while another noted, "The United States is a dystopian hell. These are underpaid teachers in South Dakota, being told to get on their knees and fight other educators for cash in front of an audience. No wonder Hunger Games and Squid Games were filmed in capitalist hellholes." A third commented, "Disgusting & dehumanizing. Tax billionaires already. This is dystopian. South Dakota arena holds a “Dash for Cash” where teachers get on their knees & fight for $1 bills to use for class supplies as people watch & cheer. SD ranks 29th in K-12 education." The next remarked, "This is unspeakably sad. Teachers on the floor scrabbling for money. For our amusement. #SouthDakota."

A commenter tweeted, "I’m sorry, South Dakota teachers. You deserve so much better." One more noted, "In 2019, South Dakota had a tax surplus of $1.5 billion. Meanwhile, teachers play hunger games for petty cash for school supplies to the delight of the crowd at the minor league hockey game. PRETEND YOU’RE A JOURNALIST HERE FOR A MINUTE…." Another said, "A minor league hockey team in South Dakota made teachers crawl on their hands and knees to collect 5,000 $1 bills for badly needed school supplies. As the crowd laughed and cheered, news outlets amplified it as a good news story. Everything is broken." A person reacted with, "South Dakota, an international tax haven without an income tax, made a few teachers fight over a five thousand $1 bills for classroom supplies."

Disclaimer: This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.