UNION - Fifty-three D.R. Gaul Middle School seventh-graders sat quietly on a classroom floor noon Tuesday and listened, transfixed, as their science teacher, Madelon Kelly, shared an emotional and very personal story with them.

Kelly is the widow of Ray Kelly, a popular SAD 5 teacher who died in January of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, more commonly known as ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease. He was 54.

She told the children of how she met her husband, some of the details of their life together and his bravery in the face of debilitating illness. She read a poem, "Ode to a Hero," written by a doctor who cared for him, a woman who had once been his student. And she thanked them for what they were about to do.

The children were readying for a walk that warm afternoon to raise funds for ALS research, an event their social studies teacher Cindy Reardon said they had planned earlier in the month.

"They wanted to turn 9/11 into something positive," she said.

As of Thursday, the students had raised more than $1,400.

"I have been so moved by all of you," Kelly told the students. "Ray would have been filled with joy to see students walking to find a cure so that others would not suffer the same agony that he courageously endured."

Reardon said the students considered a lot of ideas that would help them become active citizens and caring community members. The presence of Madelon Kelly in their lives and the knowledge of her recent loss served as the catalyst for their decision.

"They wanted to do something together and that had meaning in their own life," Reardon said.

There have been a number of cases of ALS in recent years in the Midcoast, and awareness has been heightened this year by the deaths of three prominent men with the disease: Kelly of Washington; civic leader and educator Tony Bok of Camden; and Thomaston native Joe Mayo, who was clerk of the Maine House of Representatives.

The D.R. Gaul students hope that others will be moved to help the ALS effort. Financial contributions may be mailed to ALS Association, Northern New England Chapter, 80 Colchester Ave., Burlington, VT 05401.