Whiz Kids: Brooke Thayer and Charlotte Morel

Whiz Kids: Brooke Thayer and Charlotte Morel

Age: 17

School: Pelham Memorial High School

This week’s Whiz Kid is a double feature. Instead of one amazing local student, we're featuring two outstanding young women from Pelham Memorial High School.

Whiz Kids’ Accomplishments:

Last year when an email circulated around the high school asking if students wanted to start a Pelham Relay For Life—a  national charity relay for the American Cancer Society—Charlotte Morel and Brooke Thayer boldly threw themselves into the enormous undertaking.

Relay For Life is an overnight public gathering where teams from the community participate in a relay-walk to raise funds for cancer research. The goal is to have one member of the team walking at all times, while the rest of the team sets up a campsite where they sell luminaria, or paper lanterns, which are lit in the night sky to remember cancer victims and celebrate survivors.

For the past two years, Brooke and Charlotte have been co-event chairs for the Relay For Life-Pelham event, which takes eight or nine months of planning. They are in charge of publicizing and organizing the event and working with team leaders.

Brooke and Charlotte spread the word about Relay For Life in many ways, including email alerts, a Facebook page, and they have created Pelham Relay For Life website. While the Internet is a valuable tool, the girls also rely on good old-fashioned posters and word-of-mouth to raise donations.

All of their hard work paid off last year, as Pelham’s first Relay For Life at Glover Field raised approximately $95,000.

Whiz Kids’ Key to Awesomeness:

Both Brooke and Charlotte have family members who have been affected by cancer, which helps explain their enormous dedication to the cause.

Charlotte’s mother is currently battling skin cancer. “You really see how much it doesn’t just affect the person undergoing cancer treatment but the people around them,” Charlotte said. 

Brooke lost two grandfathers to different types of cancer and has a grandmother who survived another type.

“I’m glad I have found a way to celebrate and help fight back against all these different types of cancer. Pelham is such a small community that wants to give back and I thought this was a perfect project that we could take on,” she said.

This year’s event will take place beginning on June 4 at 6p.m. to June 5 at 6a.m. Brooke and Charlotte hope to raise $100,000 this year. To find out how to donate or get involved, click here.

In addition to their considerable commitment to Relay For Life, both girls are involved with other extra-curricular activities in the community.

Charlotte is involved with the Pelham Community Rowing Association and has participated in the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer and Light the Night for leukemia and lymphoma. Next fall she will attend the University of Alabama, where she plans to study sports medicine.

Brooke is a talented singer in the PMHS women’s, select and concert chorus. She is also involved with Sock N Buskin and Peer Leadership. Next fall she will head to New London as a freshman at Connecticut College, where she hopes to study theater and continue singing.

Brooke and Charlotte have also volunteered at Hope Lodge, where out-of-town patients undergoing cancer treatment at New York hospitals can stay at no cost.