Endeavor Elementary School students and teachers at take a breather during “Kickin’ It,” a kickball contest to raise funds for Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation, which funds research for childhood cancers. (PHOTO / Cristen Smith)

HARVEST – At Endeavor Elementary School, “Kickin’ It” pitted students versus teachers in a kickball contest to benefit Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation, a non-profit organization that funds research for curing childhood cancers.

Who’s HOO (Helping out Others) students with fifth-grade teacher Bridget Tinker started planning the charity project in 2013. At “Kickin’ It” on May 1, student vendors sold cups of lemonade for $1, raising funds like foundation namesake Alexandra ‘Alex’ Scott.

Alex, in 2000 when she was four years old, manned a lemonade stand in her front yard to raise money for cancer research. From that stand, the foundation with Alex’s name has evolved into a national fundraising movement. Alex lived from 1996 to 2004.

At Kickin’ It, “students were out for revenge on the teachers. Student won in grades K-1 and 4-5 but tied in second-third grades,” Tinker said. About 18 teachers and 30 students played kickball as the entire school population cheered in the stands.

Student vendors sold yellow awareness bracelets, footballs, pom-poms and bandanas with memory ribbons. “Money is still coming in from various donors. Currently, we have over $1,600,” Tinker said.

Fifth-grader Kaylee Turner said, “It’s fun to take raising money into a game for the students and teachers. My favorite part was that students actually got to play the teachers.”

Another fifth-grader, Charles Smith enjoyed “the tricks played by the teachers and my friend, Noah, becoming a surprise ‘teacher.’ My favorite product was the footballs.”

In Endeavor’s Who’s HOO, students in grades 3-5 help their school and community with service projects. For the past two years, these children planned the students-versus-teachers ballgame and lemonade stands. “They have taken Alex’s story of courage in the face of cancer and shared her story with others as a call to action,” Tinker said.

Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation is a registered 501(c)3 charity and to-date has raised more than $100 million toward fulfilling Alex’s dream of finding a cure and funded more than 475 pediatric cancer research projects nationally.

For more information, visit AlexsLemonade.org.