ECHS Charlotte Students Kick Off The New Year Helping Others
Feb 5, 2014
Edison Collegiate High School students in Charlotte County are not only learning the basics in education, but are also learning how to be good stewards to those in need. In November and December of each year, the students, faculty and staff participate in the ECHS Charlotte Charity Challenge to help others in need. The money raised this year, $1,215.78 was given to the family of Kai Culver, a child who is battling Stage III Burkitt’s Lymphoma.
“We thought it was just a stomach ache at 3am, and by 2pm the next day we were being told it was cancer. The next several months in the children’s hospital was a blur of treatments, scans, scary breathing emergencies, life threatening organ issues, all the while receiving one bill after another,” said Renee Culver, Kai Culver’s mother. “The generosity, compassion and support of all kinds that we received from our family and friends was amazing, but to receive it so unexpectedly from strangers (and so generously) was very touching. We just couldn’t believe it. Our gratitude will never be fully expressed. Thank you to the students, faculty and staff at ECHS!”
For the Charity Challenge, all first period classes at ECHS participate and operate as teams. Each teacher can select the charity of their choice with their team to donate their class funds to. This year however, all teams wanted to give the gift to Kai Culver, who is a family friend of one of the ECHS Charlotte teachers, Blake Schmidt. Mr. Schmidt met and became friends with Kai’s mother, Renee, during graduate school. They have been good friends ever since, and are close with each other’s families. When Kai was four years old, the family discovered that he had a tumor in his abdomen, and it was diagnosed as Burkitt’s Lymphoma, a fast growing form of Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. Kai underwent a rigorous chemo regimen, and due to other infections, spent five months in the hospital battling this aggressive cancer. All funds donated to the family help offset the mounting medical costs that continue to grow to help Kai recover and get back to having fun as a little boy. To learn more about Kai and his journey, visit http://www.youcaring.com/medical-fundraiser/team-kai-battles-burkitt-s-lymphoma/94182.
“We are so proud of our students for a variety of things,” said Diane Juneau, ECHS Charlotte Principal. “But seeing the students displaying these levels of care, concern and compassion is amazing. We are of course teaching them the basics of education here, but they are also teaching us about how much they care and want to give back to the community as well.”
ECHS Charlotte is designed to provide students of all ability levels an opportunity to graduate with both a high school degree and an Associate of Arts (AA) degree from Edison State College. The transformational teaching methods used provide an engaging learning environment and opportunities for all students to receive additional educational resources through the high school and Edison State College. Students enjoy small class sizes and individualized attention at ECHS since the school has a maximum of 400 students, 100 per grade from nine through 12. For more information about Edison Collegiate High School Charlotte County visit www.edison.edu/wp/echs.
Celebrating over 50 years of excellence, Edison State College is Southwest Florida’s largest, most accessible and ranked nationally as one of the most affordable institutions of higher education. Serving more than 24,000 students per year regionally, nationally, and internationally, students are also active in a wide variety of clubs and programs that cater to their interests. Nationally, Edison State is ranked 45th among associate degree producers and 26th for its prestigious associate producing Nursing program.
Last Updated: February 5, 2014
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