Relay For Life is back and better than ever

Good+friends%2C+Jordan+Russo+18+and+Mia+Siebold+18%2C+are+junior+captains+for+Relay+For+Life.+

Photo Credit: Olivia Traphagen

Good friends, Jordan Russo ’18 and Mia Siebold ’18, are junior captains for Relay For Life.

by Olivia Traphagen, Twitter Manager

The Relay For Life Club has many fun activities planned to raise money for the event. The event is on Saturday, June 10 at the Glen Rock High School Football field. The registration for Relay starts at 3 p.m. and the opening ceremony starts at 5 p.m.

So far, two bake sales have been held in the Hamilton Lobby, as well as a volleyball tournament for teachers and students in the gym. The tournament was not as financially successful as it was in past years.

Ms. Rochelle Forstot and Ms. Amanda Sproviero are in charge of Relay for Life for the high school along with American Cancer Society Representative, Jesse Beutell.

“We encourage all grades to participate in our upcoming pickleball tournament and to join our volleyball game next year,” Sproviero said.

There will be more bake sales in February, closer to Valentine’s day. The bake sales will provide yummy, sweet treats for everyone to enjoy.

The student captains for the senior class this year are Sarah Harwick and Josh Levine, the junior captains are Mia Siebold and Jordan Russo, the sophomore captains are Haileigh Duncan and Gabe Weinstock, and the freshman captains are Jessica Rosen and Danielle Pragdat. The captains’ job is to hype up their grade for the Relay for Life event.

Co-captains for the junior class Mia Siebold and Jordan Russo are encouraging high schoolers to attend the event. The girls are part of the social media team to help spread the word on snapchat @RFLofGlenRock.

“I have been attending Relay For Life with my family since I was a toddler. Relay for Life is a very emotional event, but it is also tons of fun. We play games, have snacks, and raise money for a good cause,” said Siebold.

Whether they are currently affected by the disease, or if they are a survivor, a caretaker, or even if they just know someone who has had cancer, the event itself is held to respect the people who have been affected by cancer in someway or another.

“Everyone can connect to the event somehow which really brings the whole community together. All high school students are welcome to sleep over at the event as long as they earn five ‘Relay Points’ which can be done through raising money, helping out at a fundraising event, or encouraging a parent to chaperone,” said Siebold.

Relay Kickoff is on Tuesday, Feb. 7, Paint the Town Purple is on Saturday, May 6, and the Car Wash is on Saturday, May 20 (rain dating is on May 21). All students are welcomed to participate.

Relay Kickoff, the nearest of the upcoming events, is on February 7 at 7 p.m in the high school cafeteria. Relay Kickoff is the formal start of fundraising for the event itself. During the night there are speakers talking about what Relay for Life is and how to get involved, picking a theme for this year, video presentations, bake sales, and merchandise sales.

Sproviero wrote in an email, “There are more events to come in the spring, including a pickleball tournament. A good place to check for all upcoming events is on our Relay for Life Google Classroom page, code: thn50lm.”

So far there have been three committee meetings, which are open to the public. There has also been fundraising at both the Glen Rock fall festival and the Glen Rock High School winter choir concert.

Even though Relay has been very successful in past years, it has the potential to be more successful this year because of the increase in students involved in planning the event.

“The date of the Relay was moved to June 10 to 11th, to deal with conflicts like junior prom, and AP tests that have previously stopped some people from coming to the event,” said Russo.

Last year over $50,000 was raised. There was a switch of American Cancer Society advisers so there was some technical difficulties in the beginning, but this year they are better than ever. There are about 20 students that are a part of the team.

“I encourage everyone to participate in any way possible because it can be a very rewarding experience,” said Siebold.

In previous years, there were individual student teams for each grade, but now there is only one high school team. This way, everyone is constantly working together, and it will be easier to get more people involved.

“It’s so amazing to see people want to get involved. It can be as simple as going to the Relay for Life website, creating an account, and joining the GRHS Team, or you could join us for kickoff and get involved in our fundraising events. Relay is an organization that you really get out of what you put in,” said Siebold.