Relay For Life has officially been “kicked-off” as of Thursday, Jan. 13, and plans are underway for the school sleep-out coming up in May. Mr. St. Martin would love for teams to be established and participants to be registered as soon as possible to start fundraising and increase exposure to the event.

Students Against Cancer and two leaders, seniors Sam Thomas and Morgan Rogers specifically, have an important role in the event this year: to inspire more fundraising and help make things run smoother. “Our idea this year is to create subcommittees to do separate projects like the luminary bags, posters, and clean-up,” said Rogers.

Each participant has a different personal reason for why they’re involved and care about the cause; 90 percent of people know someone with cancer. “While the fundraising is a critical aspect of all Relays, there are also more educational, awareness, and emotional goals,” said Mr. St. Martin.

Mr. St. Martin wouldn’t give the specifics, but he has set a very lofty money raising goal for this year. “I can tell you that I have spoken with a few students and teaching colleagues, and if we reach a certain financial goal, there will be a few heads shaved and hair donated to Locks of Love,” said Mr. St. Martin.

Other goals are to bring more alumni to the event, now that two graduating classes have experienced it, and also to decrease overall food and garbage use at Relay for Life so as to have less clean up work. “Last year lots of people left right in the morning and only a few select people had to stay until ten to clean up,” said Rogers.

Due to noise ordinance agreements with neighbors and the city of St. Louis Park, BSM’s Relay For Life has a more serious tone, but this year, Mr. St. Martin wants to set up a tiki-torch-lit area to play yard games and join as a big group. “While I know that this may not sound like a lot, it will at least provide an area where a quiet form of entertainment can take place,” said Mr. St. Martin.

Mr. St. Martin holds a big responsibility to make sure students behave and represent BSM maturely by abiding by school rules and expectations at the event. “[The administration] put a lot of trust in me to ensure that the behavior and actions of the participants are appropriate,” said Mr. St. Martin.

As the last two years have proven, Relay For Life is a unifying and rewarding experience for all those involved, creating a bond throughout the school as we work towards a goal of finding the cure for cancer together.

If students are interested in creating or joining a team to participate, they should go to relayforlife.org/bsm or see Mr. St. Martin or the Students Against Cancer leaders for more information.