East Bradford Students Hold ‘Great Lemonade Challenge’

	East Bradford kindergarten teacher Janice Byrne (left) and fifth grade teacher Laura Gittings (right) are pictured with Liz Scott before an Alex’s Lemonade Stand featuring “the Great Lemonade Challenge” in the East Bradford cafeteria.

As surely as spring brings tulips, dandelions, and cries of “play ball!” the season brings an abundance of lemonade stands to the Delaware Valley.

For the most part, the children staffing these stands are not selling the lemonade for private gain. Rather, they are raising money to fight childhood cancer in the tradition established by Alexandra “Alex” Scott, who died of cancer in 2004 at the age of 8. At East Bradford Elementary School, however the tradition took on an added twist this year.

It started on Wednesday, April 11, when East Bradford students joined over 1,500 other young people from 19 schools across the country in a high tech videoconference designed to jump-start a two-week fundraising effort. In addition to East Bradford, Avon Grove Intermediate School and Phoenixville Area Middle School in Chester County participated.

Stacey Powell’s third grade class, Laura Gittings’ fifth grade class, and Janice Byrne’s kindergarteners gathered in a classroom at East Bradford for the conference, hosted by students from Penn Wynne Elementary School in Wynnewood. Alex Scott had attended Penn Wynne.

The students heard directly from Liz Scott, Alex’s mother. She described Alex as a “happy girl” and “just a kid like all of you” who was nonetheless able to raise $1 million for children with cancer through the lemonade stands she started. The sicker Alex got, the more determined she became to raise money, according to her mother. As Liz Scott continued with the story, several “wows!” were heard echoing throughout the East Bradford classroom.

The videoconference ended by each school offering its own “spirit cheer.” The students from East Bradford were ready, concluding their cheer with “We stand tall and proud for what she believed, A cure for kids is what Alex dreamed.”

The following week, the classrooms involved launched their own fund-raising effort with “the Great Lemonade Challenge.” The idea for the event came from Mrs. Byrne, who for three years has spearheaded a lemonade fund drive at East Bradford. From the kindergarten class came “extra sweet and icy cold lemonade.” Mrs. Powell’ third grade class chipped in with their “secret recipe,” and Ms. Gittings’ fifth graders provided their “lip-smacking lemonade.” For a donation of $1, students at lunch on April 18 were able to sample all three entries and vote for their favorite.

The school also raised funds through a “Lemons for Life” wall that ran through to April 26. For a minimum $5 donation, contributors had their “lemons” posted on the wall. All told, the fund-raising drive raised approximately $3,000 to fund cancer research.

For the students who were directly involved in these fund-raising efforts, the videoconference was a great motivator.

“I thought the lemonade stand was no big deal until I had the videoconference,” one student said. “Then I got really excited about it.”

“It made me want to raise even more money because I heard the story of what Alex did even though she was really sick,” another student added.

Still another was pleased with the school spirit displayed by the East Bradford students at the conference. “It showed that we really wanted to raise money,” she said.

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