DON'T GIVE UP THE FIGHT!

Forest Brook Elementary School students and staff gave a rock-star-style greeting to the ALS participants in the 2016 ALS Ride for Life. Cheers and chants of “You can do it!” and “Don’t give up the fight!” resounded as students and staff assembled on the school's bus circle to welcome and support the riders.

Forest Brook was honored to once again be a designated stop along this year’s Ride for Life journey in which ALS patients ride their electric wheelchairs down the highways and local streets from Greenport, New York to Washington Square Park in New York City. Their mission is to raise public awareness of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), assist research in finding a cure, support ALS patients and their families and provide the ALS community with the latest ALS related news, information and inspiration.

To help support the cause, Forest Brook’s students participated in a fun and entertaining game of Change Challenge from May 9-12, 2016. Each grade level was assigned a large container into which they could put their change and earn one point for each cent. Students also could also put bills in other grade level bins to reduce the number of points they earned. For example, a dollar would reduce the point total by 100. The containers were emptied and counted daily, and the totals were posted in the school’s front hallway. By the end of the Change Challenge, in addition to staff donations, Forest Brook had raised $800, which was donated to Ride for Life, Inc.

Photos by Juliette Koronkiewicz and Frank Bayer.