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By Donna Harris
Cherokee Tribune Staff Writer
Fridays are always special, but they've been an even sweeter treat for teachers and students at CrossRoads High School/Middle School for the past three months.
Since Christmas break, teachers at the Holly Springs school have been sponsoring bake sales every Friday morning before school to raise money for Relay for Life of Cherokee County, a fundraiser for the American Cancer Society.
Students and staff members can jump-start their day with a sugar rush from 25-cent doughnuts and 50-cent brownies, Rice Krispies Treats, cupcakes, chocolate chip cookies, banana bread and chocolate oatmeal cookies.
"One teacher made a pecan pie," said math teacher Candace Aman of western Cherokee County, who is coordinating the bake sale for the first year. "That went fast."
Carol Hammont, Bonnie Alley, Tina Bailey and Mrs. Aman regularly bake items to bring in for the sale, and other teachers "do it as they can," said Mrs. Aman, whose husband, Chris, also teaches at CrossRoads.
"We have a handful of teachers that bring things, and our male teachers stop by and get doughnuts," she said.
Ms. Bailey, a Holly Springs resident, said the brownies are "the No. 1 seller, but everything sells well."
"We have teachers who make cupcakes, and the kids love those," she said, noting she whips up brownies, chocolate chip cookies and Rice Krispies Treats for the sales. "Some teachers like to bring in doughnuts. They like everything."
Ms. Hammont makes brownies that "the kids absolutely love," according to Mrs. Aman, who admitted she makes brownies from store-bought mixes and hopes the students won't notice they're not made from scratch.
"They look like hers," she said, noting she also makes Rice Krispies Treats, cupcakes and chocolate chip cookies to sell. "You know how kids are. They'll eat anything. They're not picky."
Items left when the sale ends are divided up among the teachers to "sell throughout the day to get rid of them," she added.
The bake sale, which will continue on Fridays through May 2, became a fundraiser for CrossRoads' Relay team last year due to "student interest," Ms. Bailey said.
"It was the students' idea," she said. "It's been a very good fundraiser for us. I know last Friday (March 14), we made $56 in one day. We're doing pretty good."
Mrs. Aman, who took over the fundraiser this year after the teacher who was coordinating it left, said the sales usually net about $40 every Friday "just from teachers making stuff and bringing it in."
"I think we've done good, depending on the fact that our student body is so small," she said.
She added all the money is going to Relay except for one Friday's take, which the students wanted to donate to the family of a classmate who died in February.
So far, the sale has netted $269. 21 this year, Ms. Bailey said.
CrossRoads is having a Relay team, made up of teachers, staff members, students, parents or anyone affiliated with the school, for the third year.
"We have a member of our staff (Terina Esposito Haynes) who is a cancer survivor," said Ms. Bailey, who joined the team last year, her first year at the school. "The first year it started was because of her."
Last year's team met its $5,000 goal, which also is the goal this year.
"We were like No. 3 in the county for raising money - 250 kids, and we raised $5,000," she said, noting they've raised $1,051.66 so far. "It's pretty amazing."
About 60 kids were on the team last year, which made it "pretty big," she said.
"It was a lot of fun," she said. "The kids really enjoyed it. Anything to get them involved is exciting."
Participants work so hard raising money because it's "for a good cause," said Ms. Bailey, whose father had cancer.
"It's an excellent fundraiser, an excellent organization," she said.
Mrs. Aman, who was a Relay team member while living in North Carolina but is participating in her first Georgia Relay, walks in the event each year in memory of her aunt, a breast cancer victim.
"She lost her battle," she said. "It started as breast cancer, but it ended up everywhere."
When Mrs. Aman began working at CrossRoads, she said she "volunteered to help anywhere I could."
After the bake sale coordinator left, she found herself as the replacement.
"I thought, Oh, that's interesting. How did I get in charge of that?" she said.
dharris@cherokeetribune.com
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