French student pitches in to help Relay for Life

As Clay County folks field teams for the upcoming Relays for Life, one teenager should win a diversity recruitment award, if there was such a thing.

Relay for Life is an all-night camp-out walk-a-thon fund raiser for the American Cancer Society. Three relays will be held in Clay County in March and April.

Agethe (pronounced Ah-get) Lamouret, a 16-year-old French foreign exchange student staying in Clay County, is attempting to field a team of teens from France, Turkey, Brazil, Ecuador, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Thailand and Poland. The potential recruits are all exchange students participating in the Rotary International Youth Exchange program. They are staying with host families throughout North Florida for the school year. Agethe is the only one staying in Clay County.

Foreign exchange student Agethe Lamouret of France sits with members of her Orange Park host family, Christopher (from left), Nick and Anthony Rodesney. MARY MARAGHY/The Times-Union

The students get together for different group events. Recently, they went to Disney World.

One of Agethe's host moms has been Janet Rodesney, an Orange Park Rotarian and an American Cancer Society volunteer who is passionate and persuasive when it comes to the relays. She thought the students would enjoy getting together and participating in a Relay for Life. She convinced Agethe to try to recruit them. She also sent out e-mails to each of them.

"I thought we could add in community service to their experiences here," Rodesney said. "It's important that kids learn how to do this stuff. They need to know that it's not a free ride out there."

Agethe, a shy girl who is visiting the United States for the first time, said she's never heard of a Relay for Life but she watched some videos of past relays.

"I thought, 'Why not? It sounds fun,'" she said. "It's going to be awesome."

Agethe is attending Ridgeview High School and she said it is more fun and much easier than her high school in France.

"France is very academic. We work all the time. There's no clubs or activities or team sports," said Agethe, who is playing on the soccer team. "Girls don't play soccer in France."

Agethe has been e-mailing the other exchange students. Her team will participate in the relay held April 30 and May 1 at Middleburg High School. Another will be held March 19-20 at Clay High School and April 17-18 at Orange Park High School.

Families, schools, businesses, churches, civic groups and others form teams of at least 10 people who walk continuously around the school track, which is lined with luminarias that are purchased and decorated in honor of cancer survivors or victims. Cancer survivors walk the first lap and a candlelight vigil is held to remember those who have died from cancer.

Teams set up and decorate their campsites inside the track. Team registration is $100 and each participant is asked to try to raise $100 more. Some teams hold garage sales, bake sales, car washes or send solicitation letters to those on their Christmas card list.

Teams raise more money by selling refreshments during the event. Singers and dancers perform. Parents like it because their children can run around in a safe, secure environment.

Rodesney, a Lakeside Elementary School teacher, will have her own little village set up on the football field at Middleburg High School. She has a family team with her husband, Steve and three teenage sons, a Lakeside Elementary team, an Orange Park Rotary Club team and now an exchange student team.

Staff writer Mary Maraghy can be reached at (904) 278-9487, extension 19, or mary.maraghyjacksonville.com.