Local High School Students Shatter Records Raising $4.3M for Cancer Patients

What is The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Students of the Year campaign?

• Students of the Year is a philanthropic leadership development program for exemplary high school students (grades 9-12). During the campaign, students foster professional skills such as entrepreneurship, marketing, and project management to raise funds for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS), the world’s largest voluntary health organization dedicated to fighting blood cancer.  Students raise funds in honor of Honored Heroes, local children affected by blood cancer.  The title Student(s) of the Year is awarded to the student or student group in each community who raises the most funds during the 7-week competition.
• Students of the Year is a national campaign with over 75 markets across the country. The Mid- Atlantic region (formerly National Capital Area chapter) consists of 3 markets: Washington D.C., Baltimore, and Loudoun County, VA. This year collectively all 3 campaigns raised over $4Million to aid in blood cancer research, support, education, and advocacy.
• The Washington D.C. Campaign broke national records by raising over $3.3Million!
• LLS is currently recruiting candidates for Students of the Year 2022. Ideal candidates are motivated high school students who are passionate and excited about giving back to the community and changing the world. Nominate a high school student today by visiting Studentsoftheyear.org (limited spots available).
• OUR WHY? Leukemia is the number 1 cancer killer in children under the age of 20.
• The candidate or team of candidates that raises the most money at the end of the competition earn a scholarship to the college or university of their choice. An additional three candidate/candidate teams will be selected to receive a Citizenship Award.
• Students can run as a single candidate or as a team of up to 3 candidates. Candidates then build out their team to include multigenerational team members.
• “The Students of the Year (SOY) campaign was truly a life changing experience. It gave us the opportunity to make a lasting impact on the lives of so many. We were blown away by the generosity of our community and to hear how many people have been affected by cancer. SOY gave us the chance to help others, work as a team, and build our network farther than we ever imagined. We were amazed to see what a group of high school students can do when they work together.” – Calla O’Neil, Ella Song, and Kaeden Koons-Perdikis,

2021 Washington DC Students of the Year Winners

• If you are interested in participating or hearing more about the program, please contact Jenna Jacoby at Jenna.Jacoby@lls.org.

Congratulations to the 2021 Winners!

Washington DC Campaign:

• Winner: Team CUREsaders led by Kaeden Koons-Perdikis (Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School), Ella Song and Calla O’Neil (Whittle School and Studios)
• 1^st Runner Up: Team Gators Beat Blood Cancer led by Katie Yost, Emma Dowd and Jules Ciatto (Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart)
• 2^nd Runner Up: Team Panthers Against Cancer led by Ava Curley and Sofia Fernandez (The Holton-Arms School)

Baltimore, MD Campaign:

• Winner: Team Fly4aCure led by Manasa Iswara and Hemani Kumar (Leonardtown High School)
• 1^st Runner Up: Team Pirates of the CUREibbean led by Sophie Somerville (Archbishop Spalding High School)
• 2^nd Runner Up: Team Admirals in Action led by Lilly Hughes and Sage Christensen (Severn School)

Loudoun County, VA Campaign:

• Winner: Team Tyler led by Saanvi Paladugu and Ayana Ahuja (The Madeira School)
• 1st Runner Up: Team We LoCo on Cancer ’21 led by Kolbee Wisniewski and Sarah Rubin (Woodgrove High School) and Hunter Robinson (Loudoun Valley High School)
• 2nd Runner Up: Team Goldbusters led by Gabriella Ainsley David, Leila Mohajer, and Dinos Papalabrakopoulos (Riverside High School)

Thank you to our generous 2021 sponsors! Because of you, LLS is a leader in advancing breakthroughs in immunotherapy, genomics, and personalized medicine. You are helping save lives.

• • Aurora Innovations, Wilkinson Stekloff, First Republic, Wrobel Family Foundation, Koons of Silver Spring, KOONS, Eplus, Clinical Reference Laboratory

Special thanks to our media partners Washingtonian, ABC7, and FOX5DC.

Students of the Year 2022 registration is now open with limited spots. If you are interested in signing up for or nominating a student, please contact Jenna Jacoby at Jenna.Jacoby@LLS.org. Follow LLS on social media at @llsusa, @llsnatcap, and @llsmaryland.