Emma Deiley's life and battle with cancer impacted members of the Girls on the Run team at Marlborough elementary school. On Thursday, April 27, the students planted a flowering pink Cherry Tree and several additional flowers in her honor.

                The display, located near the main entrance of the school at 1450 Gravel Pike, brought Emma Deiley's mother to tears.  "Emma would have loved this," Trina Deiley said.

                The team's 25 members which include girls in third, fourth and fifth grade at the school honored the six-year-old girl, who died in March of bone cancer.

                Emma Deiley, who would have turned seven years old in April, attended all of kindergarten and some of first grade at the school.

                Members of the Girls on the Run team, who meet every Tuesday and Thursday after school during a 12-week period, made the decision to honor Emma Deiley with their local community service project, according to Toni Arner, a teacher at the school and the team's head coach.  "She was a student at the school," Arner said. "We all knew about her fight."

                On Thursday, despite a steady rain, Arner, other adult coaches and team members including Elena Fabian, Paige Miller, Alex Cronk, Ella Lyman, Ella Moran, Rachel Landis, Olivia Smith, Jaelynn Plank, Madelyn Jensen, Makena Clemens, Ally Schaffer, Alaina Hickson, Elizabeth Godshall, Dakota Fichter, Haley McMaster, Adrianna Moyer, Angelina Glackin, Brynn Clowny, Grace Vogel, Emily Vogel, Nichole Herbst, Allison Miani, Kylie Marshall, Mimi Butz and Kiera Norcross completed the project.

                They planted petunias, snapdragons and geraniums around the outside of the bed surrounding the tree and a memorial plaque.  "It was rainy and cold, but the students did a great job," Arner said.

                The Girls on the Run team members learn the development of important strategies and skills to help the students navigate life experiences, according to Arner.  "It's all about helping the girls feel good about themselves and feeling confident," she said.

                On Thursday, the girls will participate in a 5K race with other teams throughout Montgomery and Delaware counties at Wissahickon High School.

                Designed to allow every girl to recognize her inner strength, the Girls on the Run curriculum inspires girls to define their lives on their own terms, according to information posted on the organization's webpage.

                It states that the program's lessons encourage positive emotional, social, mental and physical development.  Participants explore and discuss their own beliefs around experiences and challenges girls face at this age.  They also develop important strategies and skills to help them navigate life experiences.

                According to Arner, the team members raised approximately $200 for the project by making snacks and selling them to school staff for more than a month.

                She said program accepted donations from the Reed Sign Company (plaque), Lowe's (tree) and Brian Friel (mulch).