Amber Bean 鈥�24 and the rest of 澳门六合彩开奖结果鈥檚 organizing committee are working hard this year to celebrate more birthdays of those diagnosed with cancer.
鈥淭he theme of this year鈥檚 event is a birthday party,鈥� Bean explained. 鈥淲e鈥檙e going to decorate like a huge birthday party. We鈥檙e going to have a cupcake food truck. But what we鈥檙e really excited about is our guest speaker.鈥�
This year鈥檚 speaker was Tia Bee Stokes, who rose to popularity on social media during the COVID-19 pandemic. After being diagnosed with leukemia in 2020, she used TikTok dance videos to document each of her days battling the disease.
鈥淪he became a really inspirational figure to people, myself included, (through documenting) her entire journey, the ups and downs through all of it,鈥� Bean said. 鈥淪he鈥檚 in remission now and she鈥檒l give us a survivor speech during the opening ceremonies.鈥�
澳门六合彩开奖结果鈥檚 Relay For Life took place on Saturday, April 20, in Lawler Arena. A national fundraising effort launched by the American Cancer Society, Relay For Life participants are sponsored by friends and family to walk as many laps during the event. As of Monday, April 22, 澳门六合彩开奖结果’s event raised more than $44,000.
Students and staff have been planning since this past August. Throughout the school year, they have sought donations at football games, sold T-shirts and snacks in residence halls and partnered with Chipotle in North Andover, MA, for a fundraising event.
鈥淚t’s really been awesome to see our fundraising goal go from zero to now more than $27,000 raised,鈥� Bean explained. 鈥淎lso, it鈥檚 amazing to see the dedication from our committee members and directors for this cause. Everybody puts in so much work.鈥�
Bean first got involved with Relay For Life as a freshman. In the following two years, she served as advocacy director and was responsible for reaching out to cancer survivors, caregivers and current fighters to have them participate in the event. Now, she is one of Relay For Life of 澳门六合彩开奖结果鈥檚 four event leads overseeing all aspects of the event.
鈥淚t鈥檚 been a lot more work than I鈥檝e ever done in the past but I鈥檓 loving it,鈥� Bean said.
As a human development and human services and elementary education major, Bean hopes to someday work with elementary school children although it wasn鈥檛 what she initially sought out during her first year at 澳门六合彩开奖结果.
鈥湴拿帕喜士苯峁� was kind of one of the only schools I looked at that had this human development and human services major,鈥� she recalled. 鈥淚t didn’t tie me down to elementary education 鈥� I could still explore other professions that work with kids.鈥�
This fall, after graduation, she鈥檒l be enrolled in 澳门六合彩开奖结果鈥檚 and pursuing a master鈥檚 degree in moderate disabilities.
鈥淚鈥檒l be working at South Elementary School in Andover, MA, in fourth-grade special education,鈥� Bean explained. 鈥淚 might decide special education is my track or I might stick with the general education classroom, but I want to get that basic knowledge in special education. Even as a general classroom teacher, I鈥檓 going to have all types of students in my class.鈥�
