For Fishers locals, changing a life can start with bringing in a small box of pasta. The HSE and FHS rivalry, which has been a part of HSE Schools’ tradition for years, kickstarted the Pasta Bowl: a simple way to give back to the community.

In the past, it has performed below some expectations, but the pasta bowl managers hope that this year is different.

“I feel like this year we’re really trying to make it a bigger deal because I remember last year we were kind of relaxed about it,” sophomore class president, Kylie Terpening said.

Terpening has set goals not only of beating HSE, but collecting the most pasta out of all of the schools in the district.

In 2012, the first Pasta Bowl was founded by the district school board president, John Delucia. He asked Katie Lipke of the class of 2013 to front the food drive at FHS. She visited Second Helpings, the destination of the collected pasta.

“Immediately I felt so inspired by everything that organization does for hungry people,” Lipke said.

Lipke was astounded by the amount of hungry people that go unnoticed in Indianapolis and its surrounding suburbs. That drove her and her friend, Erin Lattimer, to encourage people to get involved.

“I knew I wanted to help them in any way I could, and I knew that using high school kids and making a competition out of it was a great way to make an impact,” Lipke said.

Lattimer and Lipke promoted their cause through publicity on the daily announcements as well as a self-made promotional video. To increase participation, they focused on fueling the fire of the HSE rivalry. Finally, on the night of the Oct. 12 football game, FHS ended up collecting 1,000 pounds of pasta in just one night, which in the words of Lipke was “super surprising.” There were no clear goals in mind except beating HSE. With that mentality, FHS ended up winning the first ever Pasta Bowl, setting the stage for years to come.

Lipke is now living in Phoenix, Arizona and working for Fox 10 News. She tries to inspire change each day through her passions of work, storytelling and love for animals.

Years of competition later, and her successor Terpening hopes the food drive is fueled by a whole new vigor.

“Not only should people bring in pasta to win a contest, but they should bring it in to help the community. Their community,” Terpening said.