Quaker Valley High School sophomore organizes run for lymphoma
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Quaker Valley High School sophomore Josh Billings and his father, Don Billings, at home in Sewickley. Josh, whose father was diagnosed with lymphoma last year, is organizing a race to benefit lymphoma research.
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When Quaker Valley High School sophomore Josh Billings of Sewickley first started thinking about his personal project required for graduation, his thinking went along the same lines as most of his classmates -- something small and quick to fulfill the requirement.
Then his dad, Don, was diagnosed with lymphoma -- a blood cancer -- and Josh started thinking bigger. Way bigger.
The result is the Freeze Your Lymphs Off 5K Run for Lymphoma, a 3.1-mile race scheduled for Feb. 18 in Edgeworth. All proceeds will go to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.
The race will begin and end at Edgeworth Elementary School and follow a relatively flat course through the borough, Josh said.
In order to plan the race, Josh had to coordinate with the school district, the borough and fire department because streets will have to be closed. He said he sent more than 400 e-mails to recruit sponsors, he designed and printed brochures and T-shirts, purchased medals for the winners and set up a Web page for online registration -- www.Race360.com/16419 .
The magnitude of Josh's personal project is unusual, said Linda Conlon, the secondary academic specialist at the high school. "Planning events is a lot harder than any 15-year-old expects," she said. "You have to deal with governments, municipalities, adults and the weather. I have to admit this is one of the most ambitious projects I have seen in 10 years of doing this."
Personal projects are a state requirement for graduation. Quaker Valley requires that it be done during a student's sophomore year rather than his senior year as is the case with most other schools. Mrs. Conlon said district officials didn't want to take any chances of a student not graduating because of a poor personal project.
Another reason Quaker Valley requires the project earlier than most districts is that officials want the process to "help kids discover strengths, talents and interests," Mrs. Conlon said. "The kids learn a lot about themselves."
Mrs. Conlon starts meeting with each student the week before school starts to discuss this year's projects, which are due Feb. 29.
Each student is assigned a mentor for his project, and most district personnel -- including the superintendent -- participate in being a mentor. Josh's mentor is Nina Strelec, art teacher at Edgeworth Elementary School. She's also a runner.
"I'm impressed. It's very professional for a sophomore project," Mrs. Strelec said. "This isn't a race that's just being thrown together. He's modeling it on 5Ks that have been taking place for years."
Josh said he's gotten a lot of help and advice from Kevin Smith at Elite Runners & Walkers in Robinson and from members of the community.
"So many people are willing to do whatever they can to donate and get involved," he said. "It's amazing how a community just steps up to help out."
Josh is also a runner and a member of the cross country and track teams at Quaker Valley. His mom, Robin, is not a runner but is training so she can run in the race, he said. His family also consists of an older brother, Jared, and a younger sister, Olivia.
Mr. Billings received a stem cell transplant around Thanksgiving, and he is currently in remission.
"I couldn't be more proud as a father of what he is undertaking here," Mr. Billings said.
"There's not a day that goes by that I don't think about the disease," and knowing that his son is raising funds to help find a cure "means an awful lot," he said.
The race will begin at 9 a.m. A one-mile walk will occur after the race. Fees are $25 for the race or $15 for the walk, if registered before Saturday; and $30 for the race or $20 for the walk ($10 if the person does not want a T-shirt) if registered later.
Josh is hoping for a good turnout, regardless of the weather, noting that cross country runners are out in all types of weather.
"You never know in February what we're going to have for weather," Mrs. Strelec said. "It could be beautiful. We could have snow. But we are going to run it, no matter what."
First Published February 9, 2012 12:00 am
