Dulaney High School will be hosting it's first Relay For Life event for the American Cancer Society on Saturday, April 25 thanks to the efforts of seniors Laura Hillard and Kalie Paranzino. While Relay For Life is a community fundraising walk, it ends up being so much more than that. Relay for Life events are about celebrating the lives of those battling cancer, remembering the lives of loved ones lost and fighting back against the disease.
Laura and Kalie were halfway around the world participating in the BCPS Chinese Exchange Program when they first learned about the program from one of their chaperones, Erin Confair, a teacher and the sponsor of Relay For Life at Loch Raven High School.Kalie said, "We were inspired. Everyone is affected by cancer. Two of my grandparents battled cancer. Their fights were times of pain, fear, uncertainty and frustration but through their struggles we saw the awesomeness of God and the power of hope, faith and love. All of which are greater than cancer."
With a large committee behind them, these young women kicked-off their program back in December and have worked hard to establish this brand new event at their school. Their hope was that Relay would unite their school because everyone can participate — students, teachers, administrators, athletes, coaches — the whole school. Kalie added, "We love our committee and feel so privileged to be able to work with them to bring something so special and so powerful to our school. I am so excited to see the event come together — because we made it happen, together. There's power in community." So far they have raised more than $4,000.
The Relay For Life event will be held in the Dulaney gymnasium from 5 p.m.-10 p.m. on Saturday April 25. It's not too late to donate or register as a team or as an individual at relayforlife.org/dulaneymd.Survivors register for free and are invited to attend a Survivor Dinner at 4 p.m. prior to the event.
The Tap Team from the Moving Company Dance Center in Cockeysville headed to Washington, D.C. to perform in the National Cherry Blossom Parade on Saturday, April 11. These intermediate and advanced tap dancers joined with more than 500 other dancers from seven states as a part of the All-Star Youth Tap Dance Team.They performed a high-energy dance to "Happy" by Pharrell for those in attendance and the nationally syndicated television audience.This is the second time that the Tap Team has been invited to perform in the parade. Way to go, Catherine Bauermann, Mary Beth Bauermann, Sarah Berns-Zieve, Hallie Buese, Joan Firestein, Noam Fox, Rebecca Fox, Anna Llobet, Rodolfo Llobet, Jenny Peterson, Hailey Russo, Peyton Shetler, Sierra Shetler, Alexandra Strouse, Julia Strouse, Anna Suval and Olivia Winter.