Our Story
How It All Started
Potato Swimming began with a random doodle. One day in class, I finished my assignment early and was bored, so I started drawing. I made a wavy line with an oval on top. When my friend asked, “What is this?” I blurted out, “Potato Swimming.” That was the moment it all started.
At first, I made a few more drawings for fun and gave them to my friends. Soon, all the boys in my class were asking for Potato Swimming drawings. The girls weren’t into it—until the day everything changed.
The Great Potato Swimming Debate
In math class, our teacher asked, “What’s something you wish was never invented?” A girl said, “Potato Swimming,” and chaos broke loose. The boys defended Potato Swimming while the girls argued against it. Nobody was doing math, and the teacher had to stop us.
Our teacher finally said, “If this keeps being a problem, I’m not letting Joseph (me) use school paper to draw these anymore!” I went home, grabbed my own paper, and kept drawing. That’s when I had the idea to turn Potato Swimming into something more.
The Birth of Potato Packs
I remembered seeing collectible card packs, like Pokémon, where you get random cards in each pack. I thought, “What if I made Potato Swimming packs?” I designed six types of potatoes, from common to super rare ones, and printed them out.
The next day at school, I gave the packs to my friends. The boys loved them! Soon, kids from other grades and even teachers wanted them. Potato Swimming started spreading all over the school.
A School-Wide Phenomenon
The demand for Potato Packs got so big that I had to ask my friends for help. They became my “employees,” sorting packs and organizing lines. I even made them special shirts as a thank-you.
But then, the Assistant Principal said we couldn’t wear the shirts anymore to avoid excluding other kids. My teachers supported me and helped make Potato Swimming an official school club. At our first meeting, 100 kids showed up!
Solving Problems and Growing Bigger
As Potato Swimming got more popular, teachers noticed kids were leaving wrappers everywhere at recess. To fix this, I started a raffle where kids could write their names on wrappers for a chance to win prizes. Suddenly, everyone wanted to save wrappers instead of throwing them away.
Making a Bigger Impact
That summer, I wanted to use Potato Swimming to help others. I came up with the idea to make potato plushies and donate them to the police. The officers suggested turning them into “Ride Alongs,” stuffed potatoes that could travel with them in their cars. The officers would take photos of the plushies’ adventures and later give them to kids in need.
Each plushie had a special name like Chip, Tater, or Spud, and we even had them blessed by my priest. When I brought the plushies to the police station, they loved the idea and called in more officers to hear the story.
Helping the Food Drive
When school started again, I wanted to do something nice for kids who don’t always get noticed. I tried to create a special award for them, but the school didn’t approve it.
Instead, I helped with the school’s food drive. I offered a free Potato Pack for every three cans donated. Donations almost doubled! During this time, I also gave potato plushies to the district police as a way to thank them for their hard work and dedication to our community.
I even made a superhero potato plushie for our superintendent and gave it to my principal to deliver to him. The plushie had a cape because the superintendent often visits elementary schools to read books to kids.
Meeting the Superintendent
A few weeks later, my principal pulled me out of class and told me the superintendent was coming to our school to meet me. He hadn’t visited our school in a loooooooong time!
When he arrived, I shook his hand and told him all about how Potato Swimming started, the cards, and the plushies. He thought it was amazing and said how impressed he was by everything.
Building a Nonprofit
After seeing how much good Potato Swimming could do, I decided to turn it into a nonprofit organization. I wrote a business plan, got my uncles to help, and filed all the paperwork. Now, the goal of Potato Swimming is to inspire kids to use their creativity and talents to make a positive impact on the world and provide them with opportunities to do so.
What’s Next?
It’s crazy to think that a doodle I made out of boredom turned into something this big. Potato Swimming has made people smile, brought kids together, and helped my community. I can’t wait to see where it goes from here!