Castle Montessori of McKinney rallies to help sick children (St. Judes Hospital)

Oct. 15, 2009 - PRLog -- Students, parents and staff from the newly opened Castle Montessori School of McKinney recently combined efforts to raise more than $1400 to make a difference in the lives of sick children from across the country.

The school held their First Annual Trike-A-Thon benefiting St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital. The Castle Montessori of McKinney group was part of a 20-year tradition of helping fund the hospital, whose mission is to end catastrophic diseases in children, at no cost to families.

Head of School and Founder Varsha Patel was quick to climb on board to help the hospital in that mission.  “I believe it is important to help St. Jude Children’s Hospital, and I suspected the parents at our school would feel the same way,” Patel said.  “Not only did we raise a lot of money, we had a fun series of safety lessons that will remain with our students for many years to come,” Patel said.

As the mother of two healthy, active daughters, Patel said her heart breaks for parents of sick children. “It’s so easy to lose perspective in this life about what is truly important, but as a parent, I think anyone would agree that if your child is healthy, you naturally feel a huge sense of well-being and gratitude,” Patel said.

“If we have the ability to help make things easier for those who are ill, and have sick children, then we should do it,” she added.

According to the hospital, the Trike-A-Thon program was developed in-part for early childhood educators to teach riding safety while earning money to help St. Jude in their medical endeavors.

Efforts like that of Castle Montessori of McKinney contribute more than $7.7 million to St. Jude each year.   “I plan to make the Trike-A-Thon a yearly event for our school.  It’s the least we can do to help,” Patel said.  

About Castle Montessori Schools

Castle Montessori of McKinney is a private school based in McKinney, Texas and is part of the Castle Montessori family of schools with locations throughout North Dallas. The schools are well known for their world-class teaching staff comprised of AMS, AMI, and MACTE certified Montessori teachers.

Castle Montessori schools offer year-round Montessori programs for children ages 18 months to 9 years of age in newly-built, modern facilities with well-equipped classrooms and child-centric designs. Castle Montessori's leadership believes that the mark of a great school begins with hiring the best and brightest teachers.  The schools serve neighborhoods throughout the Dallas metroplex including Lewisville, Flower Mound, Coppell, Colleyville, Southlake, Richardson, Allen, Frisco, Plano, McKinney, Irving, Las Colinas, Highland Village, The Colony, Valley Ranch, Prosper, and Farmers Branch.

For more information on the Castle Montessori family of schools, visit http://www.CastleMontessori.com

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Castle Montessori private schools with locations throughout Dallas provide the best in Montessori education for children ages 18 months to 9 years of age. These award-winning schools have also been featured on major broadcast networks nationally.