St. Jude Children's Research Hospital recently announced the successful completion of Math-A-Thon at Stratford Road School in Plainview. Math-A-Thon, now in its 22nd year, is an educationally based fund-raising program in which students obtain sponsors for the number of math problems completed in special workbooks provided for students in grades K-9. The program is sponsored nationally by Six Flags Theme Parks, which provides free passes to their parks for every student raising $35 or more.

The students who participate in the program learn to do more than just math problems - they also learn the importance of helping children who are less fortunate than themselves. Through the Math-A-Thon, they are able to help provide a future for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Children with more than 200 forms of cancer and other catastrophic diseases find hope at St. Jude. Since its founding in 1962 by the late entertainer, Danny Thomas, the survival rate for most forms of pediatric cancer have risen dramatically. In fact, today more than 70 percent of all children with cancer will survive their bout with the disease. St. Jude fully credits these successes in treatment to the generous support of people around the world, including the students at Stratford Road School.

"We are very proud of our students for working so hard on the Math-A-Thon," said Myra Brand, volunteer coordinator. "With their help, St. Jude Hospital will be able to create new treatments that may one day lead to a cure for many forms of cancer that will benefit the children of our state, our country and around the world. I also want to extend our thanks to the Plainview community for supporting our students. It takes all of is to make a difference in the lives of children with cancer, and we can all feel proud of our response."