District Students and Staff Give Back to the Community
Throughout the school year, students and staff participate in dozens of projects that support the community. The following is a sampling of events in which they recently participated.
Ephrata Middle School Mini THON Success
Students and staff at Ephrata Middle School held their first ever Mini THON at the end of April to benefit The Four Diamonds Fund for families dealing with pediatric cancer. The evening opened with two speakers talking about how pediatric cancer had impacted their lives. For four hours, more than 150 students danced, played games, and enjoyed a moon bounce while raising money for the cause. Several Four Diamonds families attended the event.
One of the highlights of the event was the sliming of principal Gangi Cucciuffo and teachers Matt Edmiston and Matt Sweigart by students as a reward for their fundraising success. Seven girls also donated a total of 110 inches of hair to Locks of Love, an organization that collects hair donations to make wigs for children who have lost their hair due to cancer treatments.
The evening culminated with the unveiling of the fundraising total — $11,392.28. It was an overwhelming success because the advisors set an initial goal of $6,000. Many thanks go to the students and faculty who made the evening such a success. (5/3/12)
Ephrata Mounts Baseball Program Raises Funds to Battle Ovarian Cancer
Every season, the Ephrata Mounts Varsity Baseball team raises money for a worthy cause. The 2012 team has entered the fight against “The Silent Killer,” ovarian cancer, in an effort to raise awareness of this deadly disease. This year, an estimated 21,990 women in the United States will be diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Of those women, approximately 15,460 will lose the battle.
In October 2011, ovarian cancer took the life of Linda Shelley, mother of Head Coach and Highland Elementary School teacher Adrian Shelley. To advance research for a cure, the baseball program has partnered with Ovations, a non-profit organization aimed at taking a stand against ovarian cancer.
The Ephrata Mounts baseball program will be joined in their battle against ovarian cancer by Lancaster-Lebanon League brothers – the Cocalico Eagles, Conestoga Valley Buckskins, Elizabethtown Bears, Lebanon Cedars, Solanco Mules, and Warwick Warriors. During games in April and May, teams wore special shirts for pre-game warm-ups. And, we’d love to see you wearing teal in the stands.
The teal shirts, bearing the logo seen at left and each team’s logo, will be sold for $15 at each home game. $10 of each shirt sold goes directly to Ovations. To check out a story produced by Blue Ridge Cable-11 News and learn about how you can support the team’s fundraising efforts, please go to www.youtube.com/watch?v=gn69aqcgl3Y. (5/3/12)
Pennies for Patients Campaign Benefits Leukemia and Lymphoma Society
Ephrata High School Youth Peace Council collected $163.50 in a Pennies for Patients campaign to benefit Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. All money raised benefits research and local patient services (financial aid program, support groups, educational groups). (3/14/12)
Mini-THON Raises more than $26,600 for Four Diamonds Fund
On Saturday, March 10, students from Ephrata, Cocalico, and Garden Spot High Schools danced at Ephrata Middle School in their tenth annual mini-THON fundraiser to benefit the Four Diamonds Fund. The fund is an endowment with the mission “to conquer childhood cancer by assisting children treated at Penn State Children's Hospital and their families through superior care, comprehensive support, and innovative research.” The annual 48-hour THON, held at Penn State in February, also raises funds for the cause.
Through fundraising, dancing, and wonderful donations from many local businesses, the local mini-THON raised over $26,600 – over $9,000 more than last year’s fundraising total. They have raised over $143,000 throughout the history of the event.
To check out a video of highlights put together by students, please click here. (3/12/12)
Fulton Elementary School Collects for Ephrata Area Social Services
Fulton 2nd Grade students took a walking field trip to Ephrata Area Social Services (EASS), where they delivered 290 non-perishable food and personal hygiene items. The items were collected as part of the school 100th day recognition. While at EASS, they participated in a tour and learned about how their items are distributed. The activity taught the children essential life skills in helping with the giving of others in our community, as well as academically as they explored numerical values. Thank you to everyone who donated items and helped the 2nd Grade students reach their goal of collecting more than 100 items. (2/23/12)
Students Collect Jeans for Homeless Teens
The Ephrata Middle and High School Youth Peace Councils collected 125 pairs of new and gently-used jeans for the Teens for Jeans campaign. The jeans were donated to Aéropostale clothing store to help homeless teens. In four years, the program has collected and distributed over 1.5 million pairs of jeans. (2/23/12)
Intermediate School Students Raise Funds to Benefit Four Diamonds Fund
Intermediate School Student Council sold candy grams to raise money to support the Penn State THON dance marathon, which benefits the Four Diamonds Fund at Hershey Medical Center. They raised more than $460. (2/23/12)
Ephrata Boys High School Lacrosse Teams with America Servicing Americans
The 2012 Ephrata High School Boys Lacrosse team has partnered with America Serving Americans (ASA) to support a military unit. The team will be supporting nearly 50 Marines in the 9th Engineer Support Battalion. The unit is currently deployed to Afghanistan. Their project was recently featured in The Ephrata Review. Please click here to read the complete story. (1/30/12)
Ephrata High School Christmas Charity Raises Over $4,800
When the dust settled and the results were tabulated, the Ephrata High School Student Council Christmas Charity was a huge success. Students and staff donated over $4,875 to help District families in need. They topped last year’s fundraising total by more than $100. On December 23, food, toys, and clothing were purchased and wrapped by Student Council members. (1/30/12)
Clay Elementary School Students and Faculty Help Clay Families in Need
Clay Elementary School students and faculty raised over $1,700 for their needy family fund. They provided a nice Christmas for six families and received thank you letters from the families for their caring and helping. (1/30/12)
Fulton Elementary School Staff and PTA Support Families in Need
Fulton Elementary School faculty raised several hundred dollars for gift cards for needy families. In addition, the PTA coordinated for donations of several dozen gloves, mittens, and hats for a Giving Tree for needy students. (1/30/12)
Ephrata Intermediate School Families and Staff Support Others
Intermediate School families and staff donated approx. $1,500 to purchase gift cards for Intermediate School families in need. Due to current economic conditions, they purchased gift cards of smaller denominations in order to be able to help more families. (1/30/12)
Highland Elementary School 2nd Grade Classes Collect Hats, Gloves, Mittens, and Scarves
The Highland Elementary School 2nd Grade classes chose to spread holiday cheer this season by creating a Giving Tree. Families were encouraged to donate hats, gloves, mittens, and scarves to be given to local families who were impacted by recent floods, storms, and other natural disasters. Approximately 75 items were donated.
The project was incorporated into the 2nd Grade Reading Anthology theme of Neighborhoods and Communities. The students and teachers discussed the importance of helping others in the community and that the holidays should be centered on giving to others instead of getting or expecting. (12/21/11)
Ephrata Middle School Students Create Cards to Support Seriously Ill Recipients
Approximately two dozen 7th Grade students worked in small groups over the lunch hour to create 40 personalized cards
to help bring wholeness and healing to others. The cards were given to an Elizabethtown-based organization calledShareaCard.
The organization was started in 1999 by an Elizabethtown woman to send cards to seriously ill people throughout the United States and Canada. Recipients have expressed feelings of comfort in knowing that others are thinking of them and praying for them while they are going through tough times.
“We believe we can make a difference in the lives of others, just one card at a time,” said Kathy Yordy, ShareaCard Board President. For more information about the organization, please visit their website at www.shareacard.org/holidaycards.html. (12/16/11)
Middle School Youth Peace Council Food Drive
The Middle School Youth Peace Council hosted a food drive this fall. They received 12 boxes of non-perishable donations to benefit Ephrata Area Social Services. (12/16/11)
Letters to Santa Benefit Make-A-Wish®
Students in Tammy Hollenbach’s 2nd Grade class at Clay Elementary School wrote letters to Santa and addressed envelopes to the North Pole. It tied in with their study of how to address envelopes and write friendly letters. The letters were then dropped off at Macy’s Department Store in York. For every letter that Macy’s receives, they will donate one dollar to the Make-A-Wish Foundation® who grants wishes for children with life-threatening medical conditions. The students also decorated mailbox ornaments for the tree in the Clay lobby.
“In addition to writing the letters, we taught them about Make-A-Wish®. My students were so excited to help other children at Christmas who are not as able or healthy as they are,” Mrs. Hollenbach said. Mrs. Hollenbach heard about the Macy’s Department Store campaign through Debra Sisco, a professional block student from Millersville University who studied with her for three weeks in December. (12/15/11)