Bay High raises another $20,000 for St. Baldrick's

Bay High St. Baldrick's fundraiser participants, pictured left-to-right: front (kneeling), John Pim, Cory Scobee, Ben Klaus, Jonah Krueger, Will Huntington, Kevin Linder; back row, Arabelle Skelly, John Mosier, Ivan Marlin, Rick Manderine, Thomas Saccany, Bill Downey, Jared Hengst, Anthony Tabasso, Kyle McPhillips and Dave Adams. Not pictured are James McPhillips, Ivan Marlin and Duncan Ward.

Bay High School raised a total of $20,000 this year for the St. Baldrick's Foundation in the fight to find cures for childhood cancers. This year's effort brings the school's total four-year contribution to more than $75,000.

The annual event, held around St. Patrick's Day, has participants solicit sponsors with the promise they will have their heads shaved. The head shaving shows solidarity with children who often lose their hair during chemotherapy, but the tangible result is that many thousands of dollars are raised for lifesaving childhood cancer research.

Seniors Will Huntington and Kyle McPhillips have been co-leaders in bringing the St. Baldrick's effort to Bay High since they were freshmen. Back in 2014, the pair introduced the fundraiser to their fellow students. It was a memorable first-run effort, as the original goal of raising $10,000 was met and then doubled to $20,000. A top motivator that year was the promise of art instructor Thomas Schemrich to shave off his longtime ponytail hairstyle, which he said he had worn almost always since he was 15 years old.

Now, the effort can count more than 40 "shavees" as alumni of the Bay High effort thus far, including students (six have been girls), staff members and Principal Jason Martin. Veterans of every one of the past four years include senior Jared Hengst, as well as Huntington and McPhillips.

Martin pointed out that the intial fundraiser in 2014 coincided with the schools' adoption of the "One Rocket Nation" motto. "The motto represents our pride, spirit and unity," he said. "All of these come together with this student-led effort, and the end results have been amazing!”

Karen Derby

Director of Communications for the Bay Village City School District

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Volume 9, Issue 6, Posted 10:08 AM, 03.21.2017