District 212 raises more than $4,000 for St. Baldrick's Foundation to help find cures for childhood cancers

District 212 staff and students participated in the annual St. Baldrick's head-shaving competition between the East and West campuses that raises funds for research into finding cures for childhood cancers. Leyden raised a total of $4,057 at this year's competition held at West Leyden in late March.

The bulk of the money raised was the result of the head-shaving competition between the two Leyden campuses. Teachers and students went "bald for the cause" by volunteering to participate in the head-shaving event. In the end, West's Bald Eagles team declared victory with a total of $1,844 in donations. East's team garnered a respectable $1,637.91 in contributions.

In addition, Leyden's Give Teddy a Heart club raised $500 collecting change during lunch periods. Change collected in the staff cafeteria brought the final amount of money collected to $4,057. St. Baldrick's campaign has been a Leyden tradition for more than a decade.

Frank Holthouse, the district's director of community outreach, says "students walked away from this event with more than a bald head. They left with an appreciation of and gratitude for life. "One student commented to me right after having his head shaved that it really helps put things in perspective. Some of the challenges that children have to go through are just unfair. It feels good to be doing something to help that," he says.

According to the St. Baldrick's Foundation website, children's cancers are different than adult cancers, and childhood cancer research is underfunded. The foundation is committed to funding the most promising research to find cures for childhood cancers and give survivors long, healthy lives.