Students compete to benefit Greencastle Relay for Life
By PAT FRIDGEN Echo Pilot

Jaelynn Pheabus, Susan Goetz, Alana Moore and Jacob Bell with the mural they and their classmates created. The second grade students are raising money for Greencastle Relay for Life.

A good thing is getting better as the youngest children in the Greencastle-Antrim School District challenge each other for a good cause.

In her eighth year coordinating fundraising for Greencastle's Relay for Life at the Primary School, second-grade teacher Mary Lou Pool and all the students and staff have asked those in the Elementary School to outdo them in collecting donations for the May 16 and 17 community event.

But their competitive spirit is alive.

"We're going to beat the socks off the Elementary School," said Pool. She sees the activity as a way to bring cancer awareness to children during a fun competition.

A large banner in the school lobby promotes the Relay, with school district participants dedicating their efforts to Carol Bricker, Food Services Director, who is battling a second bout of lymphoblastic lymphoma.

Pool said the Primary students raised $800 in 2007 and $1500 another year. That is their goal again and they hope the Elementary students can do it too. The students will bring in the donations the week of May 12 and Pool will turn over the money to the Relay Committee on Friday.

"They are always so astounded at how much our little children have collected," she said.

Some teachers also bring their classes to Kaley Field during the day to walk the track while members from the Relay Committee and walkers are setting up prior to the opening ceremony at 4 p.m.

Pool's pupils created a mural that hangs in the hallway near their classroom. Each child is pictured around the track and the words proclaim 'celebrate, remember, fight back.'