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Boardman elementary students get excited for cancer awareness event
BOARDMAN
“P-U-R-P-L-E!”
“Hope for cancer-free!”
That was one of many chants shouted by Stadium Drive Elementary students as they waved purple pom-poms and banners.
The school hosted a “Purple Pep Rally” for the student body Thursday to get students excited for the main event today: the school’s very own Relay For Life.
Relay For Life is a 24-hour fundraising event for the American Cancer Society hosted at various times by communities throughout the country.
Boardman’s Relay of Life is next Friday to May 16.
Stadium Drive students will get a head start on the relay season by walking at the school with their classmates and teachers. Family members also are encouraged to come and join their student.
Each student was asked to bring in $1; the staff hopes to top last year’s $2,300 donation and raise $3,000 this year.
“As a staff, we’ve been doing it for a long time,” said second-grade teacher Brittany Krestel, who, along with most others at the school, wore a purple shirt Thursday.
“We decided we want to get the kids involved because even though they’re so young, they’re still touched by cancer,” she said. “We want to establish that sense of compassion.”
Students’ connection to the disease was clear at Thursday’s pep rally; photographs of loved ones — mostly students’ grandparents — who have battled cancer floated across a slideshow in-between inspirational chants.
Students also learned about the disease itself; physical-education teacher Kendal Daltorio explained that cancer in its many forms starts with abnormal cells.
Students responded with “Eat fruits and vegetables,” and “Exercise for an hour a day,” when she asked how they can keep themselves healthy.
The event started last year at Stadium Drive. The goal, Krestel said, is to help students understand cancer and the event itself.
“They’re really starting to understand how they can help and why they walk,” she said.
Each class will walk for about 20 minutes today.
When Daltorio asked students, gathered around a large purple sign reading “HOPE,” if they thought they could make it for 24 hours, however, the answer was a resounding “Yes!”