W.D. Cuts school was abuzz with a mass walkathon on Friday, and it was all for charity.
The school's leadership class organized the event to help raise money and awareness for the Kids with Cancer Society.
Teacher Derek Herman explained that everyone in the school took a trial run around the block, a 10-minute loop, right after an assembly first thing in the morning. The event proper took place with teams of up to five students each between 9:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.
"They can all do it together. They can do whatever they want but at the end of the five hours, for every time they cross the start-finish line, they get a bead."
The bead signifies the beaded journey of kids who are admitted into cancer wards, he added.
"Each kid will have their own beaded journey of their laps and at the end, they're going to put their beads together to see how many laps they did as a group. It's not about the competition, although I have some kids that want to give'r."
Each team needed to raise a minimum of $100 in order to participate. The school's goal was to raise at least $2,500 dollars to support the cause. The Kids With Cancer Society's mission is to meet the needs of kids and their families as they go through the cancer treatments. This year, the organization's goal is to raise $2.6 million dollars.
One student had raised over $1,000, Herman noted.
"Every person has had to deal with cancer in one way, or another, so it's important that we do everything we can to make a child dealing with cancer's life a little bit easier," wrote leadership students Dharama Johnston and Jenna Poirier in the school's most recent newsletter.
"It's to help spread awareness of the Kids with Cancer Society," leadership student Cassidy Gallicano who added that, every year, the school picks a charity to raise money for. This charity was chosen, she said, because cancer affects so many people and kids struggling with the disease should get all the help that they can get.
Art for iHumans
A recent high school art show featured a plethora of St. Albert talent. At the end of the day, the exhibit helped to benefit the iHuman Youth Society.
Paul Kane art teacher Colleen Hewitt announced that the eight schools (seven of which were from this city) all helped to raise $3,210 in sales and donations for the Edmonton-based agency that works to engage Edmonton's youth with high risk lifestyles to develop positive life skills.
"This whole thing is so good in so many ways … the best part is the fact that this venture has kids making art and selling it to help other kids bring art into their lives!" Hewitt wrote in an email to the Gazette.
The show had each school submit five student works and one teacher work, all of which were offered for sale at $150 each. It will return next year when five student artists from iHuman will create pieces for the show as well, "and so the collaboration grows!" Hewitt exclaimed.
People can learn more about iHuman through its website at www.ihumanyouthsociety.org.
