Westchase Easter Egg Hunt Exceeds Expectations

When ninth graders, Alexandra and Lauren Peterson, 14, began organizing an Easter Egg hunt at they were a little worried that they wouldn’t get much of a turnout.

"I had asked people to RSVP on our facebook page and we only got like six people so I was a little nervous that no one would show up today," Lauren said.

Lauren’s concerns quickly faded away as volunteers ran out of name tags and families lined up outside the front gate to be a part of the festivities that included: face painting, cookie decorating, egg decorating and, three separate Easter egg hunts.

The Easter Egg Hunt raised a total of $2,063 for the Relay For Life charity.

The idea for the Easter Egg Hunt actually came from Alexandra and Lauren’s mom, Krista, who is a fifth grade teacher at Westchase Elementary School.

"I came up with the concept and the girls and their friends ran with it," she said. "We weren’t able to find a sponsor, so the girls used their own money to buy everything for this event. I’m very proud of them."

The teen volunteers are all ninth graders who graduated from Davidsen last year and attend different high schools.

They named themselves, "The A-Team Plus" because they were all straight A students when they attended Davidsen.

"It’s such a great cause and even though we all go to different schools, we’ve all stayed in touch and remain committed to work together and help the community," said Morgan Ferrara, a ninth grader at Sickle’s who volunteered for the hunt.

The Easter egg hunt was broken up into three groups: Toddlers and PreK, kindergartners - second graders and third graders -  fifth graders. At one point during the festivities they ran out of plastic eggs and had to send someone to the store to get more eggs.

"This was the best Easter Egg hunt in my life," said James Gereige, 5.

George Sfeir, a second grader at Deer Park elementary, found nine eggs.

Gretchen Hines, a parent, was there with her sons Karl and Court.

"My sons had a ball," she said. "They played every game 3 and 4 times."

Chairman for this year’s Relay for Life in Westchase, Amy Miller, had one word to describe what all the teens did to make the event a success: "Impressive!"

Lauren and Alexandra hope to make this an annual event that continues to grow. "Even after we’re in college we hope that this continues because it puts a smile on a lot of faces and it supports a great cause," said Alexandra.

The Westchase Relay For Life will take place at Davidsen Middle School on May 13. For more information you can go to the A-team’s web page.