Warner Elementary fifth-grader Quinton Carr, top, organized a fundraiser for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society that raised more than $2,500. His brother, third-grader Gavin, bottom, has been diagnosed with leukemia. (Photo submitted) |
Warner students collect thousands for leukemia research
Students at Warner Elementary raised more than $2,500 recently in The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s (LLS) Pennies for Patients program. The program raises money to find cures for leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma while providing information and support services to patients and their families.
Fifth-grader Quinton Carr organized the campaign as a leadership project. His younger brother, Gavin, is a third-grader who has been diagnosed with leukemia. The school’s goal for the program was $500; it ended the two-week period Feb. 17 having collected $2,658.52 from students.
Pennies for Patients teaches students caring, sharing, respect for others and the value of community service, in addition to supporting an important cause. The need for cures is critical: Nearly 912,900 Americans are battling blood cancers, and leukemia remains the leading cause of disease-related death among children under 20. Over 3,500 individuals in Kentucky and Southern Indiana are currently battling a blood cancer.
“This was a great experience for our students,” Warner principal Val Gallutia said. “It taught them that they can make an important difference in the lives of others. It is gratifying that our students’ efforts are benefiting an outstanding organization like LLS.”
During the 2010-11 school year, 25,000 schools across the country raised $26 million through School & Youth Programs. In Kentucky and Southern Indiana, 363 schools participated in the Pennies for Patients program raising $383,000.
For more information about LLS’s School & Youth Programs, visit www.schoolandyouth.org/ky. The Kentucky and Southern Indiana Chapter is located at 301 E. Main Street, Suite 100, Louisville, KY 40202, 1-800-955-2566 or 502-584-8490.
JCHS grad takes part in NASA event
Darri Washburn of Bluegrass Community and Technical College in Lexington has been selected to travel to a NASA Center this spring to participate in a three-day on-site event. She is a 1997 graduate of Jessamine County High School
Washburn has been selected as one of 92 community and junior college students from across the nation to be part of the National Community College Aerospace Scholars program. Students completed four Web-based assignments during the school year, maintaining a 88 high average to qualify for the experience. They will apply what they have learned during the year to work with NASA engineers.
The program is a three-day on-site event at either Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, or the jet-propulsion laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. It offers students from across the nation the opportunity to interact with each other as they learn more about careers in science and engineering. While at NASA, students form teams and establish fictional companies interested in Mars exploration. Each company is responsible for developing a prototype rover, designing a line drawing of the rover, and forming the company infrastructure, including budgeting and communications functions, and will prepare presentations.
The on-site experience at NASA includes a tour of facilities and briefings by noted NASA employees, including astronauts.
National Community College Aerospace Scholars is a program based on Texas Aerospace Scholars, originally created by the state of Texas in partnership with NASA and the Texas educational community. Both programs are designed to encourage community and junior college students to enter careers in science and engineering and ultimately join the nation’s highly technical workforce. With this program, NASA continues the agency’s investment in educational programs that attract and retain students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, disciplines critical to NASA’s future missions.
For more information, visit https://ncas.aerospacescholars.org.
JCTC to host open house Thursday
An open house about freshman classes will be at Jessamine Career and Technology Center from 6-7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 15. The center is located at 881 Wilmore Road in Nicholasville.
