Parkville High School Relay For Life

What is Relay For Life?  Is it a run?  Can I join and run laps?  I run for Track and I'm really good, you want me to run the Relay this year?  How long do I have to run?

Relay for Life is an American Cancer Society-sponsored fundraiser to help beat cancer.  Let's face it, the number of us who are not affected by cancer is fairly miniscule.  My mother is a two-time survivor, my father in law is also.  My former boss recently completed her last radiation treatment. My grandmother in Germany passed away of ovarian cancer. We all know someone who has dealt with cancer in some way.  Relay For Life is a fundraiser that dares to give us the hope that sometime in our lifetime, we can eradicate cancer, and everyone can celebrate more birthdays!

On Friday, March 14, 2014, the students at Parkville High School held their second annual Relay For Life, and had a wonderful turnout and a tremendous time.  At Parkville this year, we termed our event Relay For Life/Fun Friday, and it took place in our cafeteria.  Our teams set up their tables in the center of the cafeteria, and we walked our laps around the perimeter of the cafeteria.  Relay For Life begins with a lap that honors the survivors present on site and in our hearts.  This year, we had a department chair in our school and one of our teachers' mom walk with us on site, and everyone present had the opportunity to walk with a mini poster dedicating the lap to a survivor they wanted to honor.  It was a time of quiet celebration, and reflection, as several of us realized that a woman who walked with us last year on the survivor lap was, at the time of this year's lap, approximately 9 months and a couple days pregnant, and getting ready to celebrate with the growth of her family.  What a lovely feeling!

We had teams offering henna painting, teams selling rice krispie treats, and teams selling opportunities to challenge a faculty member to games of Scattegories.  We had live bands, individual singers, and duets and trios singing to entertain those in the cafeteria.  The gym was open for half court basketball, badminton, and hula hoop contests.  We had a Corn Hole Tournament in the hallway between the cafeteria and the gym.  Students pitted against teachers, and students against other students.  We had a terrific DJ who played various group dance songs that got all kinds of kids into the middle of the cafeteria dancing like crazy.  We had spirit laps where teams were awarded spirit points for dressing in purple, or hula hooping the entire lap, or wearing a mustache, or leapfrogging over a partner, and doing the entire lap wheelbarrow style.  It was fun the whole 6 hours.    

In essence, Relay For Life began as a sort of relay involving running. Dr. Gordy Klatt ran for 24 hours around a track at the University of Pudget Sound.  Several members of the community paid $25 to run with him for half an hour, or to walk around the track while he was running.  It was the first Relay For life, and in 1985 he raised $27,000 for his local American Cancer Society by running.  We no longer run, but the idea of circling a track for a great number of hours has stuck.  Our Relay For Life was planned, organized, and executed by a group of teenagers led by one adult.  The students planned and executed the fundraising throughout the year, and planned for on-site fundraising as well.  In addition to raising money, the students planned to honor and remember cancer survivors and those whose lives were taken by cancer.  The Luminaria Lap was both a fundraiser, and a beautiful quiet time for the people at Relay to contemplate their loved ones. 

Our website remains open for donations.  If you have thought about making a donation to the American Cancer Society, why not take a moment and donate to the Parkville High School Relay For Life.  Your donation will certainly go to helping the American Cancer Society, and it will also help to make a group of hard-working high school students feel terrific about the work they put into this year's Relay For Life.  It's a win-win situation!  (www.relayforlife.org/parkvillehsmd)