5/8/08
St. Paul Elementary School raises money for Relay
By Jerriod Grizzle

Manning Times File Photo

The word “hope” is spelled out in luminaries as part of the Relay for Life Opening Ceremonies.

With Relay For Life less than a week away everyone is pitching in and doing their part.

Schools across the county are competing to raise the most money and CSD1’s St. Paul’s Elementary School is just one example of how fired up they are for this year’s event.

“I went to one of the Relay meetings where I represented the district and I came back and got my people here fired up and they got their kids fired up and so on,” said Leola Parks, administrative assistant at SPES.

The principals for the schools are their team captains.

Parks said that the real competition at SPES came from the paper feet that were sold for one dollar to raise money for Relay. Each “foot” has the donor’s name on it and is posted by the classroom.

“One class would have a lot and the other classes would see it and just want to raise that much more,” Parks said.

All of the classes at SPES have raised at least $100 and one class raised $800!

“We explained to all the students here that everyone is touched by cancer and we have even lost people here to cancer and we have had survivors as well,” said Parks.

SPES has one ace-in-the-hole for its fundraising campaign.

“Robert Bowman, a volunteer grandparent who worked with the class that raised $800 has worked extra hard this year and we are so thankful to him for all he has done,” she said.

SPES even has students that are going to walk in Relay.

“We really want all the kids to come out, we are asking the students that are going to be chaperoned and we are asking parents to bring their children and walk,” she said.

Students who do walk will get a cheering ovation from their teachers.

For Parks herself, the greatest part of Relay is the Luminary Ceremony. Luminaries are purchased by donors and lit in honor or memory of someone who has fought the battle with cancer.

“You sit and you listen and I know a couple of names like my father that I am very emotional about. But to hear all the other names that you hear over the night of people that you didn’t know it is extremely touching,” she said.

“Every school is going to be a team and that really helps us out by having more and more teams. I have teams from the cities and towns, communities and even certain families that are registered,” said Relay Co-Chair Pete Surette.

Surette said that there is even a bigger incentive for schools at this year’s event.

“We are going to give a trophy for the top school and hopefully that will inspire the schools next year to compete even harder,” he said.