Donuts, basketball put school on track to raising $15,000 for charity
Plum Grove Junior High has got it down. Its students know how to raise money to fight cancer -- and do it quickly.
For the sixth straight year, students raised thousands of dollars to help the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, which funds blood cancer research and provides services to patients.
Students presented the organization with a check for more than $15,000 during a celebration lunch Wednesday at the Rolling Meadows school.
"I think it's a phenomenal amount of money to raise in a three-week period," said Maura Reid, a history teacher who has headed up the fundraiser since starting it in 2003.
The school ranked first in the state among all the 450 schools participating in the society's 2008 Pennies for Patients.
How did they do it?
A flurry of activities started with "donate for doughnuts," in which each homeroom class tried to bring in the most donations. Other events included a whipped cream pie-eating contest, a student/faculty basketball game and a dance. Raffles offered donated prizes, including a chance for students to eat lunch with resident police officer Terry Cappelen.
For Reid, the whole effort touches home. Her daughter, Teagen, an eighth-grader at Plum Grove, was diagnosed with leukemia as a kindergartner.
Teagen received a bone marrow transplant six years ago and is doing well today.
Reid remembers that during Teagen's surgery in Milwaukee, the leukemia society provided them with phone cards and other support.
Reid was impressed with the community's response to the fundraiser. "Cancer touches everyone at some point in their lives," she said.
Arts award: Rolling Meadows High School senior Adin Lenahan was named winner of District 214's Richard W. Calisch Arts Unlimited Award. It recognizes a student who best exemplifies creative excellence in the arts.
Adin, a Mount Prospect resident, is speech team captain and editor-in-chief of the school newspaper. He has played principal roles in more than a dozen plays and musicals. He also received the "Best of 214" Drama Award. Adin plans to pursue acting at New York University's Tisch School for the Arts this fall. Calisch is a former English teacher and Arts Unlimited program coordinator.