May 14, 2008

(Special thanks to the Green Bay Press Gazette for permission to reproduce this article)

Franklin Middle School 2nd in national contest

By Jonathan Gracer

Students at Franklin Middle School in Green Bay took second place Tuesday in a nationwide competition designed to raise awareness and support for cancer survivors.

More than 200 schools submitted projects in the "LIVESTRONG at School" challenge as part of LIVESTRONG Day events coordinated by the Lance Armstrong Foundation.

Green Bay Preble High School's Sting Cancer organization and the Breast Cancer Family Foundation pushed local groups to participate.

Tammy LaRene's seventh- and eighth-graders at Franklin created greeting cards designed specifically for cancer survivors and those affected by cancer.

"They were all filled with whatever the students wanted to do," LaRene said. "I don't think there were any two that were even close to being the same."

The cards included poetry, pictures and stories and were edited and created on a computer to look professional.

"They wanted you to come up with some sort of project that would explain what LIVESTRONG meant to you," said LaRene, who teaches reading strategies at Franklin. "We brainstormed all kinds of ideas."

One of the most important parts of the experience was having the students learn a message of diversity and understanding, LaRene said.

Although the class did not receive the first-place prize - a visit from Lance Armstrong went to Cynthia Thomas' fourth-grade class at Oak Hill Elementary School in Austin, Texas - they did receive a collection of LIVESTRONG Nike gear for each student and a poster for the classroom.

At Preble, the Sting Cancer Awareness Team, an organization made up of more than 200 students and faculty, planned an entire day of activities to celebrate cancer awareness. The group will also host a battle of the bands Friday with reduced admission for those wearing yellow.