Kaegebein students help in the fight against cancer

Grand Island Dispatch, May 25, 2007

Students at Kaegebein Elementary School will be participating in a mini-Relay For Life to benefit the American Cancer Society on Friday, May 25.

A mini-Relay For Life is an abbreviated version of the American Cancer Society’s signature event.

Event coordinator and second grade Kaegebein teacher Cyndi Booker said, “This is a great program that provides resources for the teachers so they can, in turn, teach the students about ways they can prevent cancer.”

Each week, classroom activities have incorporated messages about cancer prevention. The themes included Eating Healthy, Exercise, Sun Safety, and Being Tobacco Free.

Kaegebein Elementary School has spent a great deal of effort planning and preparing for the mini-Relay For Life. Since fund-raising is an integral part of the event, students spent the month collecting pledges for the walk. Second and fourth grade students have been busy making purple and white inspiration bracelets to be sold at the event. More than 300 T-shirts have been sold to students, staff and parents to wear the day of the event. Some friendly competitions have developed between classrooms in a race to see who can collect the most spare change. This is keeping second grade students very busy counting and rolling change daily. Once the containers are emptied and counted, the students are tracking the totals by entering the information in a spreadsheet on the computer.

Other fund-raising opportunities include luminaria sales. Students are collecting donations from friends, family and neighbors to honor the memory or life of a loved one. The bags are then decorated with the name of the person being honored and will be placed around the track during the mini-Relay.

Teachers have also joined in the spirit of it all by participating in the “Cutest Baby Contest.” Voters place spare change in the cup labeled with the number of their favorite choice. The baby picture that raises the most money will win. The winner will have the honor of wearing the coveted bib all day.

Opening ceremonies are scheduled to begin today at 9 a.m., at which time the chorus, led by music teacher Mrs. Michki, will sing a song titled “Everyday Heroes.” At intervals throughout the day, students will walk a course on school grounds in an effort to raise money from pledges they had collected all month. When students complete the walk, they will participate in a basketball shooting contest in the gymnasium. Prizes will be awarded at the end of the day to the children who collect the most donations.