Alex's Virtual Lemonade Stand, Week 2!

Can you believe we're more than half way through our 2 week project?? And we're completely in awe of everyone's lemonade spirit! Just look at the grins on the faces of the students at Cuyahoga Valley Career Center in Ohio. Their stand brought in $470.00 for pediatric cancer research!

The students at Moreland Hills Elementary are still going strong. During day two of lemonade sales, they sold more than 1200 cups of lemonade! That's $649.85 for Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation! Here's what they wrote about their second day of fundraising:

It was hot on the playground today! The temperature was around 80 degrees and we got very busy! As soon as each grade level came out for recess, they rushed to buy tickets. Soon there were long lines and we were selling lemonade faster than we could make it. It was tiring but we knew we made a lot of money that day, so we were really excited.

And Hopewell Memorial Junior High School has reported an additional $48.75 in lemonade sales -- bringing our grand reported total to $4823.89. And most schools still haven't reported yet! Don't forget to report through our online form. And tomorrow is the last day to get us your photos and video for the 2010 Project Highlights video. Check out instructions for submitting media.

School Updates!

Wow! We are closing in on the end of Week One for Alex's Virtual Lemonade Stand 2010. Can you believe it?

Our schools have been up to some GREAT things! Hopewell Elementary School sold lemonade during their three lunch periods today. A cup of lemonade was sold for $1.00, and many students donated more than a $1.00 for the cup of lemonade. Some students wore yellow, and everyone that donated received a sticker that read, "I supported Alex's Lemonade Stand." They also had parent volunteers helping! They sold 285 cups of lemonade and raised $332.68. It was a great start to their two day lemonade stand!

Hopewell Memorial Junior High School is having a great week, too. They had a '2 for Tuesday' deal where every cup purchased for $1 came with a free refill. They also had a Cinco de Mayo special during lunches on Wednesday. Their total for Tuesday and Wednesday? 140 cups and $100.15!

On May 1, 2010 4th grade students from South Lebanon Elementary School hosted an Alex's Lemonade Stand at their school's Fun Fair. Students signed up to work 1/2 hour shifts during the Fun Fair. They sold 350 cups of lemonade. Their stand raised $642 and their PTP matched the earnings for a grand total of $1284.

Our grand reported total so far is $3,655.29. Have you reported your school's events yet through our online form?

A friendly reminder that poster contest entries are due tomorrow! And don't forget to take a look at the Make a Difference Commercials!

Picture of students from Hopewell Elementary School.

Soliciting Donations On The Streets in Taiwan

As the school bell rang, we carried our schoolbag and our student-created products to Yi Chuan Street, which was always filled with students. YES ! We were about to begin the fundraising for Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation. We started the charity bazaar at six p.m. and ended at ten p.m. We peddled along the street. Some people stopped and took a look at our things, but some just walked away. We had to humbly ask if he or she had time .And then, we introduced our things to them. Whether the people bought our items or not, we all said "thank you” to them! It was very tiring after the fund soliciting. However, with the thought of helping numerous people, I would put my tiredness behind! During the entire fundraising event, I learned many things. For example, I have learned about responsibility and rebuilding confidence after being rejected. I hope everyone can send out their love to help more people around the world !!!

Contributed by Peggy Ro (National Dali High School, Taiwan)

Hello from Moreland Hills Elementary!

Hello from Moreland Hills Elementary in Pepper Pike, Ohio!

It is our first day and we did a good job! We raised $209.21. The weather was sunny! We were surprised that a lot f kids brought in money. We used Country Time like Alex did. We are having a raffle too. If your number gets picked, you win an Alex's Lemonade Stand T-shirt. Pink lemonade was popular. We had a fun time!

From Sejal and Brooke

Hello from Hopewell Elementary!

Hello from Hopewell Elementary!

We are students Brandon and Cora from Hopewell Elementary School. We just wanted to let you know on the blog that we are going to have our lemonade stand this Thursday and Friday. We will sell lemonade for $1.00. We will be all be wearing yellow and one of our teachers will be face painting lemons on our cheeks.

We are so glad to be representing our school for this cause!

Brandon and Cora
2nd grade

Take a look at what schools are doing!

Photos of Hopewell Elementary School students showing off their lemonade spirit were just added to the online photo album- - isn't it cool to look at the map view and see pictures of lemonade stands in PA and Taiwan? Make sure you upload your pictures today!

We've heard from two more schools: KD Markley Elementary in Malvern, Pennsylvania and Corwin International Middle School in Pueblo, Colorado. Students at KD Markley Elementary took 477 orders for pretzels and lemonade - - which they will deliver on Thursday. That's $477 for Alex's Lemonade Stand! Corwin International Middle School raised $1,016 by holding a car wash and lemonade stand for five hours. That brings our total reported amount of total funds raised to $1,729.25! Great job everyone!

Top 10 Things YOU Can Do to Make a Difference During our 2 Week Project

• Share this project with EVERYONE you know! Ask them to come and support your lemonade stand.

• Report your activities, the cups of lemonade you sold and how much money you raised EACH DAY you have a lemonade stand through our online google form! Just click on the link on our project website.
  
  
• BLOG! Have a student in your school write a blog entry for us to post on our project blog. Just email it to Heather Weisse Walsh at hweisse@magpi.net.
  
  
• Share Alex’s story with your friends and family members.
  
  
• Vote for your favorite “MAKE A DIFFERENCE” commercials on YouTube by 'liking' them - - -and share the link with everyone in your school community!
  
  
• Enter our Poster Contest! Each school can submit ONE entry - - and they are due via email to Heather Weisse Walsh by MAY 7, 2010. Our University of Penn volunteers will be evaluating them. Visit the project website to download the rules and check out the evaluation rubric.
  
  
• Visit the Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation website to read more about the Foundation heroes and their families - - that’s who we’re doing all of this work for.
  
  
• Make YOUR lemonade stand AMAZING! Think of fun and creative things you can do to get your entire school and community involved in your project. Check out some of the fantastic stands in our online photo album!
  
  
• Remember, when life gives you lemons, make lemonade. You might hit some bumps along the way throughout this project - - but every bump is an opportunity.
  
  
• Have fun! One kid can make a difference - - and have fun in the process.

We've already heard from our friends at Hopewell Memorial Junior High School about their project. They sold lemonade at a 7-8th grade dance. They put a glow stick in each cup to make them more attractive to their buyers. It worked! They've also sold lemonade and raffle tickets for a "Alex's Lemonade Stand" teddy bear during lunches. They had to purchase the supplies from their food service and give them 25% of the profit to be permitted to sell during lunches. Congrats to this fantastic group of students - - who have sold 335 cups of lemonade and raised $236.25 for Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation!

And the Kick-Off Videoconference archive is NOW POSTED on iTunes. Enjoy!

Image is of National Dali High School during the Kick-Off Videoconference - - one of our Lemonade Spirit Award winners!

What a FANTASTIC Kick Off!

On Friday, April 30th, we kicked off the 4th Annual Alex's Virtual Lemonade Stand with 16 schools across the US and Taiwan. Students from The Haverford School's Student News Team mc'd the one hour interactive videoconference, which featured presentations by Liz Scott from Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation, Cameron Robertson (one of the Foundation's heroes), and all of the participating schools.

Congrats to the following schools who won Lemonade Spirit Awards for their outstanding pep-rally presentations!

• Fernwood Avenue Middle School
• National Dali High School
• Corwin International Middle School
• K. D. Markley Elementary
• Moreland Hills Elementary

If you're a registered participant of the project, please remember to report your activities through our online google form every day you host a stand or other program! And please upload photos to our online album, too!

Miss the program? Catch the archive on iTunes University. It will be up on Monday, May 3rd!

The 2010 Alex's Virtual Lemonade Stand MAKE A DIFFERENCE COMMERCIALS are now posted!

We've just posted the 5 entries for our Alex's Virtual Lemonade Stand MAKE A DIFFERENCE Commercial Contest on YouTube!

How can YOU make a difference? Take a look at what students from Moreland Hills Elementary School, Corwin International Middle School, Hopewell Elementary School, and KD Markley Elementary School had to say.

While you can view the videos from this webpage, you can only rate them by going to the YouTube Playlist. Please rate the videos based on how they responded to the question: What Can YOU Do to Make a Difference? The top-rated video will be featured in our closing celebration videoconference!

MORELAND HILLS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL


NATIONAL DALI HIGH SCHOOL


HOPEWELL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL


CORWIN INTERNATIONAL MIDDLE SCHOOL


KD MARKLEY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

Guess what? Our Kick-Off Videoconference is TOMORROW!

We're looking forward to seeing you and your students during tomorrow's Kick-Off Videoconference for Alex's Virtual Lemonade Stand! Our program will begin promptly at 11:00 AM and all sites should be connected by 10:40 AM EDT. If you're not an interactive videoconference participant, don't worry! We'll have the archive up on iTunes as a podcast by the end of the day.

During tomorrow's event, we will hear from Liz Scott (Alex's Mom) from Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation, and childhood cancer survivor and Foundation hero Cameron Robertson. Liz Scott will also be doing a special reading of "Alex and the Amazing Lemonade Stand" and you will have a chance to view the "Make A Difference" Commercial Contest entries!

Remember, each school will have 45 seconds to shine during our virtual spirit rally - - so be ready! We will be calling on schools in alphabetical order during this portion of the videoconference. Please be ready and in place to present BEFORE we call on your school (this means student presenters should be next to the microphone with the camera framed on them before we call on your school - - all you should need to do is unmute!). If you have submitted a commercial, this does NOT count as your spirit presentation. We will still be calling on your school live during the program to introduce themselves. If you are planning to show any multimedia during your 45 seconds, please let us know ASAP.

Do your students have a question about Alex or her Lemonade Stand foundation? Would you like them answered "on air" during tomorrow's videoconference? POST A COMMENT HERE and our VJs will ask them to Alex's mom during the program.

Keep your students engaged during the videoconference by playing our kick-off videoocnference SCAVENGER HUNT! We've posted the scavenger hunt workshop (and corresponding teacher key) on the project website. Before the closing videoconference, have students use their answers to create individual lemon bingo boards (also on the website). We'll be calling out squares during our closing videoconference - - first student to make an L in your classroom, wins!

Alex's Virtual Lemonade Stand Team Wins Penn's Models of Excellence Award

On Friday April 6, 2010 the Alex’s Virtual Lemonade Stand team at the University of Pennsylvania was awarded a Models of Excellence Honorable Mention Award. Introduced in 1999, the Models of Excellence Award program recognizes notable staff member accomplishments at Penn that reflect initiative, leadership, increased efficiency and a deep commitment to service.

The Alex's Virtual Lemonade Stand Team at Penn collaborates each year for the past four years with the Lower Merion School District and with the Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation in a two-week project to raise money for pediatric cancer research. The Alex’s Virtual Lemonade Stand Team at Penn is led by Heather Weisse Walsh, Manager of Educational Services at MAGPI, who each year manages the technical and organizational details to allow for schools across the U.S. and the world to participate in the program through interactive videoconferencing and web streaming. In addition, the event incorporates different fun programs and contests to encourage student involvement and to promote a sense of community spirit. Kids around the world from kindergarten through high school raised a total of $24,000 last year, and over $60,000 over the past three years by hosting lemonade stands and holding other fundraising events.

The Alex's Virtual Lemonade Stand project consists of several components that make this exciting annual service project engaging for all involved. The special kick-off videoconference includes a Lemon Spirit Rally Contest where schools show off their “lemony-ness” in performances from step teams to dramatic presentations, to original rap songs, etc. The school with the most “lemonade spirit” during the videoconference wins the Spirit Award. Use of a blog encourages schools and students to share their fundraising ideas and successes and provides ongoing updates on the amounts raised. The “Make A Difference” Commercial Contest gives students an opportunity to think about how they can make a difference in their community and then express that though the use of digital media by creating a 45 second "commercial spot." The Lemonade Stand Poster Contest helps students get the word out about their fundraising projects. Lemonade Bingo helps little ones stay engaged during the videoconference events by getting them involved in a scavenger hunt game which results in a unique lemonade bingo board. The Wrap-Up Project Collage Videoconference Event is a celebration of each school’s accomplishments.

The end result of the two week project is a highly successful event that has raised money for the Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation, a national organization with Greater Philadelphia roots, that grew out of the lemonade stand started in 2000 by then four-year-old Alex Scott shortly after she was diagnosed with neuroblastoma cancer. She wanted to raise money for pediatric cancer with the hope of finding a cure. Alex held an annual lemonade stand in her front yard until she died four years later. Her story has inspired many and their contributions to the Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation have raised more than $10 million for childhood cancer research. Much of the money has been raised in small amounts during the past 10 years through many “grass roots” efforts across the country and around the world like those of the award-winning Alex’s Virtual Lemonade Stand project.

For the last three years, the Alex's Virtual Lemonade Stand project has raised over $60,000 and has become a "Top 100" lemonade stand for the Foundation. “Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation has been honored to partner with MAGPI since 2006,” says Gillian Kocher, spokesperson for Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation. “The Alex’s Virtual Lemonade Stand Project, which brings schools across the country together as they host lemonade stands for pediatric cancer, has raised an innumerable amount of awareness, teaching the important lesson that you are never too young to start making a difference. In addition, the funds raised through this unique virtual connection of schools has placed the MAGPI Virtual Project among the top 100 fundraisers! ”

For information on this year's Alex's Virtual Lemonade Stand project see the project website at http://magpi.net/Community/Programs/Alexs-Virtual-Lemonade-Stand.

For more information on the Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation, please visit http://www.alexslemonade.org/.

Hello from National Dali High School!

We are students of National Dali High School in Taiwan. We have conducted a fundraising in our school, held fairs with other schools in Taiwan, solicited donations on streets, and also collaborated with Folsom Lake College as well as Princeton Elementary School via video conference. We offered lemonade, lemon-flavored bread and some students-created products in our school to encourage students to donate their pocket money and pay forward Alex’s dream of helping children with cancer. The products, including T-shirts, stickers, and pins are all designed by students of NDHS. All the donations will be made to Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation as well as our previous projects (helping Haiti and victims of Morakot typhoon in Taiwan), namely our “Three In One” project.

Contributed by Vicky Yang, National Dali High School.

Show off your Lemonade Spirit!

On Friday, April 30, 2010 we are kicking off the 4^th Annual Alex’s Virtual Lemonade Stand project! Did you know that it’s also the 10^th Anniversary of Alex’s first lemonade stand? So get ready - - we’re going to be celebrating the number 10, too!

During our spirit rally, your students are going to have 45 seconds to introduce yourselves. This is your time to show us your LEMONADE SPIRIT! We’ll be awarding 5 spirit awards - - do your students have the most spirit? Your introduction should include the name of your school, your location, and why you are participating in this project. In previous years, we’ve had costumes, songs, quick dramatic skits and more - - be CREATIVE!

Please note that if your school is planning to do a cheer, it’s very difficult for the other schools to understand when students are screaming (and of course, they’re going to do that because they are excited!). So please practice your “indoor voices” cheers so we can understand you!

So, why ARE you participating in this project? Let's start the conversation on the blog... if you're a participant in the project, please share!

Alex's Virtual Lemonade Stand Commercial Contest

Alex made a difference in her community by helping others with the simple idea of a lemonade stand—we want your students to think about what they can do to make a difference in their community. Challenge your students to reflect on the statement: How Can I Make a Difference and then use digital tools to create a 45 second commercial video. We know 45 seconds isn’t long - - but it’s about the time to takes on an elevator and sometimes that’s all the time you have to convince someone! Each school is eligible to submit one commercial entry.

Make a Commercial. We realize that there are a lot of digital tools available to create a commercial! Your final submitted video must be saved as either QuickTime .MOV, Windows .AVI, or .MPG files— these are the most common formats and they work well within the YouTube system. We specifically recommend the MPEG4 (Divx, Xvid) format at 640x480 resolution with MP3 audio. Resizing your video to these specifications before uploading will help your clips look better on YouTube.

Upload Your Commercial by April 28th! After your commercial is produced, upload it to Google Docs (you’ll need a Google Account). Please name your file “SCHOOL NAME - ALEX LEMONADE VIDEO.” Once it’s uploaded, click on the file and then click “share.” Please share your video with mdknight@gmail.com. We will post all of the videos on MAGPI K20’s YouTube channel on April 29th. If you need help with this process, please email mknigh@magpi.net.

Rate the Commercials! After MAGPI has uploaded all of the commercials to MAGPI’s YouTube channel, we will send out the link (and post it on the blog), so you can share invite students, colleagues, friends and family to view and rate the commercials. You may even want to have your class view all of the commercials in class and rate them as a class! We’re asking everyone to rate the videos based on the question “How well does the video answer the question: how can I make a difference?” The commercial with the highest rating will be played during our wrap-up videoconference!

Need some inspiration? Take a look at the Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation Video about Alex!

Annoucing our 2010 Project!

When life gives you lemons... make lemonade! Inspired by the journey of Philadelphia-area hero Alex Scott, the Alex's Virtual Lemonade Stand Project celebrates the idea that just one kid can make a difference. Join schools from around the world to raise awareness and money for pediatric cancer research, all while participating in standards-based projects that make the process both inspiring and fun. It's all about kids helping kids - - and we want you to get involved!

As part of this two week program, each participating school will hold their own lemonade stands to help raise funds for pediatric cancer. Schools can hold one big lemonade stand day or a series of lemonade stand events throughout the two weeks. They will be able to communicate and interact with one another through a project blog, student-created videos, poster contest and special videoconference events!

Alex's Lemonade Stand is a national organization with Greater Philadelphia roots. The organization grew out of the front yard lemonade stand started by Alexandra “Alex” Scott, a pediatric cancer patient. In 2000, at the age of four, Alex opened her first annual lemonade stand with high hopes of raising money for pediatric cancer causes. Every year thereafter, Alex held an annual lemonade stand in her Pennsylvania front yard and inspired others to donate money to her cause.

So register now! And join us in our quest to make a difference.

Project Timeline

• Online Registration Open: Now through April 15, 2010

• Make a Difference Commercials Due: April 28, 2010*
• Videoconference Testing: April 19 - 23, 2010
• Kick-Off Virtual Pep Rally: April 30, 2010 from 11:00 AM EDT - 12:00 PM EDT via videoconference
• Lemonade Stand Projects: April 30 - May 13, 2010
• Poster Competition Entries Due: May 7, 2010*
• Wrap-Up Celebration Videoconference: May 14, 2010 from 11:00 AM EDT - 12:00 PM EDT via videoconference
  

Required Project Components:

Create a Lemonade Stand Project: Schools participating in this project will have 2 weeks to host an Alex's Lemonade Stand. Sites can have a one-day lemonade stand fundraiser or hold a stand every day for a week - - or some other combination. After each day of sales, please head the MAGPI website and complete an online record form so we can keep track of how the entire project is doing. Each participating school will receive a package of resources from Alex's Lemonade Stand, including: return envelopes, banners, thank you notes, stickers (I support Alex’s Lemonade Stand), newsletter, and brochures.

Participate in the Kick-Off Virtual Spirit Rally and Celebration Videoconferences: These multisite videoconference events are how we bring everyone around the world together to share their projects! During each program, your school will have time to share a brief presentation. The first videoconference is our spirit event, so your school has 30 seconds to show their lemonade spirit, introduce themselves and share why they’re participating in the project. During the celebration videoconference, schools will have one minute to share their projects. We encourage creativity in project presentations! Both programs will also involve special guests.

Special Optional Projects:

Enter the MAKE A DIFFERENCE Commercial Contest: Alex made a difference in her community by helping others with the simple idea of a lemonade stand—we want your students to think about what they can do to make a difference in their community. Challenge your students to reflect on the statement: How Can I Make a Difference and then use digital tools to create a 45 second commercial video. We know 45 seconds isn’t long - - but it’s about the time to takes on an elevator and sometimes that’s all the time you have to convince someone! Each school is eligible to submit one commercial entry. Please note that commercials are due on April 28, 2010.

Enter the Alex’s Virtual Lemonade Stand Poster Contest: The best way to sell lots of lemonade is to get the word out! What better way then through posters? Each school that participates in the poster contest project should conduct a school-wide 'lemonade sale poster' contests. The top scoring poster entry at each school should then be submitted to the national contest. National poster entries need to be photographed and scanned as .jpeg images. We’ll post all of the entries on the project blog and the winning entry will be featured on the Alex's Lemonade website! Posters are judged on a rubric system by volunteers from the University of Pennsylvania. Please note that poster entries are due on May 7, 2010.

Be a VJ: We are looking for a school to be our virtual host for the kick-off virtual pep rally and the closing celebration event. Host sites will be responsible for working with the project coordinator from MAGPI to develop a script for each event, and to provide student anchors/commentators. VJ schools will introduce each guest speaker and school before their presentation. We have a sample script that sites can use a reference from previous years’ projects. Interested? Send an email to Heather Weisse Walsh at hweisse@magpi.net.

Blog about the Project: We would love for your students to be project bloggers during the event. Your students can either contribute to the project blog or write for your own school blog and we'll link to it. Simply send an email to Heather Weisse Walsh at hweisse@magpi.net to let us know you're interested in blogging. Bloggers will be responsible for reaching out to participating schools to get information about their projects as well as chronicling what their own schools are doing throughout the project.

Participate in Lemonade Bingo: Looking for a way to keep your students (especially younger ones) engaged throughout the entire videoconference kick-off and wrap-up? Play lemonade bingo! We'll create a scavenger hunt workshop that students can complete while viewing the kick-off videoconference. They then use their answers to complete a unique lemonade bingo board - - and we'll call out squares during the celebration videoconference! You may want to have a small prize for the first person to win 'bingo' in your classroom!