UPPER CANADA DISTRICT SCHOOL BOARD
Laggan PS and Char-Lan DHS Receive Top Honours for Terry Fox Fundraising Efforts

For the third consecutive year, both Laggan Public School and Char-Lan District High School are the proud recipients of the Ted Kennedy Legacy Award.

This award is given annually to the elementary school and the secondary school in the Upper Canada District School Board that raises the most money per capita for the Terry Fox Foundation. Since the award's inception in 2011, Laggan PS has won seven times and Char-Lan DHS has won 11 times. For the 2023-24 school year, Laggan Public School's approximately 221 students raised $8,853.10. Char-Lan's student population of approximately 323 students raised $8547.12.

"We couldn't do this without the community. There was a lot of community involvement, and from parents," says Tessa Davies, Grade 12 Char-Lan DHS student and a member of the organizing committee. "Without the support of the community, we would not have raised as much money as we did. We are really thankful for them."

Leila Grant, another Grade 12 student at Char-Lan DHS on the organizing committee recalls how when she was in elementary school she would participate in Terry Fox at her own school and then watch the high school students run by and cheer them on. Being involved in this legacy is important to her as she sets to graduate from the school. "As Grade 12s, it's important to show the students in the younger grades what it's like to be at Char-Lan and to be involved in the community and the school."  Fundraising for the foundation takes place in September with both schools doing traditional donation canvassing, but adding excitement to that for the students.

For their event at Laggan PS, student do laps around the track while engaging in a number of fun activities throughout the day, one of them being seeing all their fundraising milestone promises come to fruition. For example, their principal, Lianne Hughes, being taped to her chair and pied in the face, while Kindergarten teacher and organizer of all things Terry Fox at Laggan PS this year, Tara MacLeod, got six inches of hair cut off by students.

At Char-Lan, fundraising efforts take place over multiple days with bake sales, athletic game buy outs and other initiatives. The Terry Fox Run Day is a big school-wide event where students run either a 5km or a 10km route throughout the community.

"What these students do each year is impressive. Cancer touches the lives of too many people. Fundraising for the Terry Fox Foundation a such a worthy cause, but events like these also shows our community the character of our students. That we are helping to shape students who are generous, caring and responsible," says Trustee John Danaher, who is also a former principal at Char-Lan DHS and helped with the plaque presentation.

Overall, schools in the UCDSB raised $130,326.12 in the 2023-24 school year, adding to their lifetime total of more than $1.9 million.