What if they win?

"The really neat part about winning the $100,000 is that we would work as a faculty and staff to use the funds wisely in areas or on items we know to benefit student learning and achievement," FSMS Principal Barbara Albright said.

Voting ended last week in the U.S. Cellular Calling All Communities campaign in which K-12 schools across the United States are trying for a chance at sharing $1 million donated by the wireless communications company. The top 10 schools that receive the most votes during the contest will win $100,000 to use however they choose.

Albright said the money could be very beneficial to the school.

"We have currently faced some drastic budget cuts as many schools in the state of Kansas, so winning this would help our school budget immensely," she said.

The money could be used toward technology carts for classrooms that include such equipment as an LCD projector, a digital visual presenter, and a laptop computer. Some classrooms could benefit from interactive whiteboards, personal response systems to check student knowledge, and additional computers, Albright said.

"Technology needs are quite expensive in any school, and FSMS is no exception," she said.

The experience of watching the school and community come together during the nationwide competition has been "most rewarding," Albright said.

"To be honest, it is amazing to be a part of this total community push to make the top ten," she said. "I see why it was titled Calling All Communities by U.S. Cellular."

Albright compared the experience to a similar project she was involved in about 10 years ago when a bond issue passed to construct a new Fort Scott Middle School building -- a project that also drew much response and excitement in the community.

U.S. Cellular is expected to reveal final vote tallies and the top 10 schools next month. FSMS finished the month of December ranked No. 59 in national voting -- the last time U.S. Cellular released a list of the contest standings. FSMS first appeared on the top 100 list at No. 74 in early December.

The school partnered with several local businesses to conduct various events and activities the last week of the contest that promoted the FSMS campaign and encouraged people to vote. Several people and businesses also donated time, money and food to the campaign.

According to U.S. Cellular, partnerships between schools and communities led to record-breaking voter participation this year. More than 250,000 votes were cast for more than 6,400 schools in the contest. At the end of the contest last week, some schools were less than 100 votes away from becoming one of the winners, and four new schools had jumped into the top 10. The largest one-day voting total was also recorded this year -- nearly 27,000 votes cast in a 24-hour period.