By Matthew Reichl
Special to The Mercury
Purple and white graced outfits worn by Boyertown Area school students as they worked toward their first Relay for Life this summer.
A March 10 Spirit Day was held at the high school to generate money in the fight against cancer.
"This Spirit Day is a high school event, but it is being coordinated with all of the other schools in the district as well," said Jeff Kusniez, Boyertown teacher and student council adviser. "Spirit days are usually held around homecoming, but we also use them at other times during the year, usually in support of an event or a cause like Relay for Life."
Kusniez said Alyssa DeMitis, the Student Council team captain, decided to use the opportunity to generate as much buzz about Relay for Life as possible.
"Students at the high school will be asked to donate $1 for a sticker and wear purple and white," he said. "Students in the other schools will just be asked to wear the purple and white."
He added that the school picked the best day for the event.
"In terms of the day, Alyssa worked with Dr. Morgan, the superintendent, to find a day in the district calendar that had as few conflicts as possible," Kusniez said. "Dr. Morgan checked the school calendars for the other schools, gave Alyssa some dates, and they settled on March 10."
He said there are at least two other student-led teams.
"Alyssa is the team captain, she attends all of the meetings and pretty much handles everything with the team," he said. "My main job is to help them raise money for their team and answer any questions they have. Again, I just stay in the background and help when asked."
Relay for Life is an American Cancer Society sponsored event. The world's largest fundraising walk, it is designed to spread awareness of cancer prevention, treatments and cures, celebrate survivorship and raise money for research to find more cures for cancer.
The 24 hours of walking will take place on the high school track June 27-28.
Family Career and Community Leaders of America co-adviser Jane Berry, a family and consumer sciences teacher, said one of the members from each team will participate in the walk. People can donate money to the cause.
Berry said she helped her students become aware of Relay for Life by exposing them to other school Relay programs.
"My students wanted to have their own event in Boyertown," said Berry. "They are working on developing their own leadership skills in relation to family and consumer science."
She explained the process that eventually developed into a school-wide interest.
"We would stay after school and meet," said Berry of the FCCLA, a national group. "It is a student-run organization."
In October 2006, Berry took them to a regional workshop where they attended individual seminars on Relay for Life. One of the mini workshops featured a speaker from Ursinus College.
"The kids were so thrilled with the idea of Relay for Life," Berry said. "We talked about it for most of the year."
She said the FCCLA talked with the American Cancer Society to put something together.
"We participated last Spring in a Relay for Life event at Kutztown University," she said.
She said Caldwell independently contacted the American Cancer Society to show interest in Relay for Life.
"She explained how much passion she had for the program," Berry said. "Between Ruth and Kayla, they really got it off the ground."
Ruth Dierolf, school board president, was a major help in the founding of the Boyertown Relay for Life.
Caldwell, the Boyertown ACS Relay for Life Student Co-Chair, said, "After attending a leadership conference, I learned the steps for doing a relay. They didn't know if we had time and nobody wanted to take charge of it."
Her enthusiasm to start a relay in Boyertown was ignited by the success of the Pottstown Relay for Life.
She said, "I don't have any family who had cancer but recently a good friend of the family died of brain cancer. Everyone knows someone affected by it."
The different student-run teams devised different ways to raise money for the upcoming event.
"Each Relay team needs to raise money, and of course they donate that money," Berry explained. "The student council is doing their part by having the Spirit Day on March 10."
Teams are already getting a head start, she said.
"Some of the teams are starting to raise money now," Berry said. "My team, the FCCLA students, have sold lollipops. We also had a faculty dress-down day on Friday."